May they have nothing to fill their inlets on their last journey! Month of running errands in the marketplace-no pleasantry at all.

May they have nothing to fill their inlets

on their last journey! Month of running errands

in the marketplace-no pleasantry at all, but, sometimes

when the light sets the heart of the world in succession fire

and your voice rushes up to stop

everyone seeing it, it's awkward

as your uneasy hormone swells

so three or four of you gang up behind

a hefty matron, shiny woven fabric glued to her skin

by flows of sweat and you roar at her

right in the main aisle lady, lady, your dres

is up your ass and take along around the fruit-crates! While

r verdant ochre, the air swings her herculean

peals of laughter back at you. Heartstopping:

with ten hard-saved francs you could have

the soccer ball Made in France smelling of leather

and penalties and nearly nine yards, great games,

great vociferates great fights until the night

of time which won't drowse when the tall

candles give back to the stars a certain of the

energy we achieve from them, with the ten francs,

those pus-balled mother-fuckers, they

went straight to near hairy-cunt whore.

HEDI KADDOUR was born in Tunisia in 1945 however has lived in France since childhood. He has published three works of poems with Gallimard: La Fin de vendanges (1989) Jamais une ombre simple (1994) and Un parcours ou Luxembourg (2000) as well as three works with other publishers. He lives in Paris and teaches at L'Ecole Normale SupErieure in Lyon

MARILYN HACKER teaches English at Hofstra University and lives in novel York City and in Paris. She is the author of eight bulks of poetry, most recently Squares and Coun:yards (Norton, 2000)

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