Er prad ar rinier

IN THE MEADOW OF THE STREAM

 

Wild blue-necked ducks

Shy mudhens with russet crowns

Quietly feeding on the edge of the brook

Who skitter off at the slightest sound

 

Among the reeds near the sluice-gate

The mudhens race to hide away

The wild duck dives into the water

Its plunge fractures the mirror

 

Shatters the lake's clear picture

Destroys the reflection of the white clouds

Tall masts of the straight poplars

 

Swaying gently in the breeze

And the half-image of the old roman bridge

Between the willows and the ash trees.

 

Chandelour

[2 February] 1968.