Mes racines [English translation]

My roots are deep

They have traversed the depths 1

And perforated the rock

Of a land’s end

They have woven their web

Under a starless sky

And cleaned by the wind

Drawn in front

Oh my peninsula attached

By several aged rocks

I carry a compass

To retrace my steps

A memory of the terrain

When I didn’t walk

My roots are alive

As in these arid lands

They search for the next one

When an aquifer runs dry

They force my journey

No matter where or when

My existence toll

“Under 25s card”

The sandwiches eaten on the go

The blacklisted lecture halls

All these words in the mouth

The body like a flint

For as little as you’re touched

The spark that remains

And my roots grow

An encounter and then ten

A look and then a hundred

I watch powerlessly

The road that my roots

Follow for tomorrow

My roots are resounding

And their echoes oppose

A wave - north cliff -

An airbus - pink town -

My roots are tactile

Recognise by feel

The softness of the pistil

The roughness of the concrete

The smooth skin of the girls

The claws of a kitten

My roots are olfactory

Preciously keeping

The scent of the detergent

In mum’s skirts

My foots are “family”

Perhaps not so often

Yet my heart still tingles

The same way

With “Knock knock”s at my wall

“Come sleep with me”

With gathering mulberries

With Cabins in the woods

With holidays all five together

“Sun cream, bucket and spade”

It’s to you that I drink

With the glass well lifted

To the next embrace

I wait for you soon

And my roots grow

An encounter and then ten

A look and then a hundred

I watch powerlessly

The road that my roots

Follow for tomorrow

And my roots grow

An encounter and then ten

A look and then a hundred

I watch powerlessly

The road that my roots

Follow for tomorrow

My roots

My roots

My roots

1. The deep waters

• Artist:Renan Luce
• Album:Repenti (2006)