Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Frédéric Dumont : Three poems, translated by Simon Brown



antipsychotics
or pea soup
it’s all relative
my pharmacist says, again

i don’t think i’ll ever have enough money
to make it through december

so i celebrate and breathe whenever i can

and when i go out to shovel snow
my mom compliments me

that’s something

thanks mom











i don’t know if i’m on the internet
or at the hospital
or at home
or all of the above

i’m freaking out with my eyes and my eyes

take this pill twice a day
as needed
take my hand
take whatever you want

what’s in my pockets
cows that condense your breath

whatever you want

the evidence piles up

there’s a hole in the wall, ok, i’ll participate

daybreak is a value pack

sinking into the grass like neglected conviction









i don’t identify with chronic suns
or suburban dentists

i just want enough charisma
to put on this pair of socks
without help from my entire family

i just want to be able to make my own bed
in the purest tradition
of bed-making










Frédéric Dumont is a poet from Longueuil, Québec. He has published three collections: Je suis suis célèbre dans le noir (l’Écrou, 2019), Volière (l’Écrou, 2012), and Événements miteux (Éditions de Ta Mère, 2009).

Simon Brown is a self-taught poet and translator from New Brunswick now based in the Québec City area. His most recent book in English, This Mud, A Word, was published by Frog Hollow Press in 2019. simonbrown.ca