L'exil
Laurie Darmon
The exile
Which East is she talking about?
This beautiful lady of memories
When she tells us about her youth
In the old port of Alexandria
She was a careful young girl
While her friends danced
At all the balls, all the parties
Where they always met
And the photos are turned
On the corner of the table
I see her, so fragile
Shedding a few tears
She remembers everything
The scents, the colors
Time hasn't erased anything
They're there in her heart
She tells me the details
Carefree like a fruit
That grew amidst battle
In the soil of the country
And then, suddenly, silence
And the immense rupture
The exile
Which East is she talking about
When she mentions her pregnancies?
Four blessed children
Raised almost blindly
Her blue-green eyes still
Haven't left the Egypt of her life
It's there where forever sleeps
That peace she feeds upon
And the photos are turned
On the corner of the table
I see her, so fragile
Shedding a few tears
She remembers everything
The scents, the colors
Time hasn't erased anything
They're there in her heart
She tells me the details
Carefree like a fruit
That grew amidst battle
In the soil of the country
And then, suddenly, silence
And the immense rupture
The exile
Which East is she talking about?
This beautiful lady of memories
Who had to forgive the sky
For forcing her to rebuild
Far away, on another continent
The rituals that take years
To be accepted, yes, but even so
That was the price of her freedom
And the photos have aged
The black and white is fading
But her oriental air
Remains intact
I see her, so beautiful
Small and mysterious
She's my mother's mother
She's my happy childhood
Her accent is like a cry
A witness to the passage of time
That none of its traces
Will ever leave her soul
Her nostalgia teaches me
That there's no border
For exile
