The Partisan

[gerbilsupmyarse.livejournal.com]

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands e'taient chez moi, [The Germans were at my home]
ils me dirent, "Signe toi," [They said, "Sign yourself,"]
mais je n'ai pas peur; [But I am not afraid]
j'ai repris mon arme. [I have retaken my weapon.]

J'ai change' cent fois de nom, [I have changed names a hundred times]
j'ai perdu femme et enfants [I have lost wife and children]
mais j'ai tant d'amis; [But I have so many friends]
j'ai la France entie`re. [I have all of France]

Un vieil homme dans un grenier [An old man, in an attic]
pour la nuit nous a cache', [Hid us for the night]
les Allemands l'ont pris; [The Germans captured him]
il est mort sans surprise. [He died without surprise.]

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

- Anna Marly-Hy Zaret -

Tower of Light

[silverflurry.livejournal.com]

O tower of light, sad beauty
that magnified necklaces and statues in the sea,
calcareous eye, insignia of the vast waters, cry
of the mourning petrel, tooth of the sea, wife
of the Oceanian wind, O separate rose
from the long stem of the trampled bush
that the depths, converted into archipelago,
O natural star, green diadem,
alone in your lonesome dynasty,
still unattainable, elusive, desolate
like one drop, like one grape, like the sea.

Neruda, Pablo.