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A lady like landscapes (for Simone Signoret)


A lady like landscapes,
wearing time like an amusing shawl
thrown over her shoulders
by a friend at the bazaar:

Every once in a while she turns in it
just like a little girl,
this way and that way:

Regarde.
Ça n'était pas donné bien sûr
mais c'est quand même beau, non?

Oui, Oui.
Et toi aussi.
Ou plutôt belle

since you are a lady.

It is impossible to tell
how beautiful, how real, unanswerable,
becomes your landscape as you move in it,
how beautiful the shawl.

Written by James Baldwin (1924-1987)

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