Pennsylvanian Craig Czury works as a travelling poet in schools, homeless shelters, prisons, mental hospitals, and community centers around the world. Czury sent me the following translation, "Writing Sheet," by Willie Westwood of a poem by Jacques Prévert (1900-1977) -- the original French version may be found at Westwood's site (scroll down).
Writing Sheet by Jacques Prévert
"Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
Repeat!" says the teacher.
Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
But look! The lyre bird
That flies in the sky
The child sees it
The child hears it
The child calls it
"Save me.
Play with me
Little bird"
And so the bird descends
And plays with the child
"Two and two are four…
Repeat!" says the teacher.
And the child plays
And plays with it…
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
And sixteen and sixteen are what?
Nothing are sixteen and sixteen.
Certainly not thirty-two,
Anyway,
And they're gone.
The child caught the bird
In his desk
And all the children
Hear its song
And all the children
Hear the music
And eight and eight are gone away,
And four and four, and two and two
Clear out on their turn
And one and one are not one or two
One by one, they've left too
And the lyre bird plays
And the child sings
And the teacher cries,
"When will you stop clowning around?"
But all the other children
Listen to the music
And the classroom walls
Crumble softly
And the windows become sand
The ink becomes water
The desks become trees
The chalk becomes a cliff
The pen holder becomes a bird.
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