Poetry Thursday - "Je te l'ai dit pour les nuages" by Paul Eluard

(via)

I told you for the clouds

I told you for the sea tree

for each wave for the birds in the leaves

for pebbles of noise

for the familiar hands

for the eye that becomes a face or a landscape

and the sleep that renders the sky from its color

for the entire drunken night

for the grid of the roads

for the open window for an uncovered face

I told you for your thoughts for your words

every caress every confidence endures

               - Paul Eluard (1895-1952)

(encountered in Ali Smith's "Artful"; translated by Stuart Kendall; other translations are available)


It's about the nature of storytelling, "or of all telling", says Smith, in the final lecture in the book, "On offer and on reflection".