From “Hearts, Books of Love” [“The world, like that island enclosed”]

By Hélène Dorion
Translated By Susanna Lang

Translated from the French

The world, like that island enclosed
by the horizon, is alone

                      and water, like the poem
                      pushes its stubborn waves toward me
                      and the window, like a life where everything holds still

and I see you, in the reflection of all these.

Notes:

Read the translator's note by Susanna Lang.

Source: Poetry (June 2026)