Francis Combes [France]

 

A Poppy

 
In the shopping area
among the cars and the advertising signs,
in that spot where no one pays attention to it
near the sidewalk,
sprouting from a crack in the tar
a poppy
fragile and alone
stands
tall,
courageous,
scarlet.
 
How can we not be optimistic? 
 
(Translated from French by Alan Dent)
 

The Stranger
 
Greet the stranger
who’s knocking at your door
he longs for the warmth of your home
because it’s cold outside
 
Greet the stranger
he comes with the sun
that you may not be aware of
although it sleeps within you
 
Should that sun awaken
it will make  fairer
and stronger – it is the sun
of fraternity.
 
        (25 Dec. 2023)
 

The Massacre of the Innocents
 
It’s written on the Bible, according to Matthew
That Herod, renowned for his cruelty,
Having learned a new king was to be born in Judea
Had all the children under two in Bethlehem
Massacred.
Today, historian confirm
Tha massacre can’t be proven.
But a new Herod is born in Judea.
He’s called Netanyahu.
Fearing the Palestinian people
Might one day rule themselves
Adherent of the final solution
He has their children massacred in Gaza. 
 

 
Author’s Bionote:
 
*Francis Combes is a French poet, born in 1953. He published thirty books and he translated into French Heine, Brecht, Mayakovsky, A. Jozsef, Jack Hirschman. Ten of his books have been translated in several languages (English, German, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, etc). He founded and ruled for many years the publishing company “Le Temps des Cerises”. He also set up the poetry posters campaign in the Paris subway. Now, he is one of the animators of “Poets of the Planet”.
 
(Photo: Eric Piette, 2023)