Dance in the harbour

Paris mars 2007

They are walking to the harbour
Tonight,
The Ma’ohi ballets are performing
By the sea
He is in the love for this woman
She also is
That’s what she tells herself
She fears the day when
She will no longer be in the love
They pause by a liner
On the point of sailing away
Then they walk
Along the water
Hand in hand
They come near the artists
The toere and the pahu are resounding
The dancers are so beautiful
She loves the harbour dancers
She imagines that he could be desiring them
He stares at the dancers
He wished he was in the lovers’ bedroom
They would go through the city
Crushed down by the heat
There is no wind
To carry her to the bed
Turn the light off
From far he would hear the music
Tahitian songs, very far
And later, the cry
Of the leaving liner
Would cross the streets and the walls
And the lovers’ bedroom door
And then, much later,
He would hear
Softly
The song of the woman
Who is in the love.


 
  Raí a Maí is a Tahitian poet and fiction writer.