Filles des jardins [English translation]

Remember,

that's what we did.

We followed them

step by step.

the garden girls

shaded by the columns,

so far away

amidst men and women

with greying temples.

Amidst men and women...

That's what we did:

we pointed at them,

did not talk to them.

The garden girls

as they sat

wearing veils or plain shirts

in the grey-blue shadow

Why have they changed?

Has the fruit been eaten?

Are we strangers now,

unable even to swim anymore,

to reach the shady shore?

That's what we did.

Remember:

time ran

through our fingers.

The garden girls

as we watched their game

till evening, never knowing

where they rested their eyes

as tiny lakes

of proud shadow

Remember

it smarted our eyes

like fire

in the blue-grey shadow;

like fire

in the blue-grey shadow

• Artist:Gérard Manset