Go to content Go to navigation Go to search

Everything’s a sign / Toute chose est un signe

Everything’s a sign

of something else:
the morning waking up,
an old man coughing,
my neighbors, actors:
some walking dogs
others, jogging.

The voices I hear
the faces I see
they’re all commercials on tv.

Such a nice day.
Did I say that? did you?
Words like ice cream cones
in soft white paper napkins
completely shock-and-moisture proof

words from 9 to 5
in suits that never say anything
not said before.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

……………………….

Toute chose est un signe

de toute autre chose:
le matin qui se réveille,
un vieillard qui tousse.
Mes voisins, des acteurs:
certains, promènent des chiens
d’autres, font du jogging.

Les voix que j’entends
les visages que je vois
des pubs à la télé.

Quelle belle journée.
J’ai dit cela? Et toi tu l’as dit?
Des mots comme des cornets de glace
dans des serviettes en papier douces et blanches
complètement à l’épreuve du choc et de l’humidité

des mots de 9 à 5
habillés en complets qui ne disent rien
que du déjà dit.
…………………………….

2002. Traduction: Françoise Parouty

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

3 Responses to “Everything’s a sign / Toute chose est un signe”

  1. m. hamil Says:
    October 24th, 2009 at 8:10 am

    very nice words; drops of light in a shiny morning
    There for the layman, the philosopher
    And the reader to bathe in…
    Thanks for the sweet challenge.

  2. Henri-Dominique Paratte Says:
    August 24th, 2010 at 9:36 pm

    Toute chose est un signe – mais
    de quoi? de qui? de quel
    mystérieux autre part? de quelle
    autre dimension, étonnante, surgissante, tapie
    dans les lignes du quotidien…

  3. Sanford Fraser Says:
    August 25th, 2010 at 3:35 pm

    Professor Paratte,

    Thank you for your questions about my poem, “Everything’s a Sign of Something Else”. In saying that everything is a sign of something else, I think the first-person narrator in this poem simply means: everything is not itself. His neighbors, the people he meets are like actors in a commercial who never say anything mysterious, shocking , or unexpected; and certainly, their quotidian remarks never reveal anything hidden about themselves.

    I hope this poem does not stop you from viewing more of my poems on my blog:
    http://www.sanfordfraser.com

Leave a Reply