read me the future in the grains of oats / in the silos / in the West /
read me the future in the tea leaves / in the coffee grinds / read me
the future / in the nuances of colour / which dance / in the buckets of
used oil / read me the future in the house paint which blisters and
dries in the sun / read me the future in the ashes of forest fires / in
the scraps of wood / which carpenters leave behind them / when they
build houses / read me the future / in the noise of electric lines /
which carry the current to the places where it is needed / read me the
future in the leaps of animals / who die on the road / read me the
future in the night / that is black as coal / read in the dust / in
recipe books / and in the secrets / read me the future in the morning
traffic jams / and those at night / in the technological changes / that
science gives us / in the dry wells / in the marshes / in the bars / in
the smell of Liquid Paper / read me the future  / when the police
inspector / talks to the media in a tight situation / somewhere in the
country / read between the lines of the Microsoft slogan / 'WHERE DO
YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?' / in the mosaics of Pompei / in the music of
Souza / read me the future and tell me which to choose / the
sword-swallower / or the sand swallower / or the swallower of white
flour / read me the future in the history of work / in the importance
of the fist / in freedom / in fortune / and in the conditions which
form character / read me all of the futures possible in the heads of
bronze statues / read in the tempests in the glasses of water / listen
and tell me / what is being said by the one who is drowning in spit /
read me in the can of worms / that you cannot but open / read me the
future of the free market and the 'UNDERPASS OF THE INFORMATION
HIGHWAY'

The one-eyed Haradius Coclès a.k.a. Le Borgne, is said to have
single-handedly defended the entrance of the Sublicius Bridge into
Rome.  This allowed his people to cut the bridge behind him, he then
escaped by swimming.  He lost an eye and gained his nickname.

read me the future  / between stupor and drowsiness / between confusion
and deep coma / read the future in the movement of the equinox / read
the future/ when the oar touches the water / so that the water embraces
the oar / and from the canoe the lake / seems like a mirror / read me
in the future / that it is possible/ that someone / in downtown
Sao-Paolo / can hear a pin drop / tell me that everything cannot be
modeled from televised broadcasts  / or poor political discourse /
read me the future / that it is possible to learn  / to sew / to swim /
to draw / to dance / to live / read in the future / that which is said
to be  / absolutely open to the world / but is in reality / totally
open  / to that things remain as they are / read aloud / that the saint
who has given away all of his clothes / understands nothing of the
phenomenon ³Walmart² / I say that the revolution does not mean anything 
/ anymore / and that it is absurd / to love Arab music / while
detesting Muslim orthodoxy

Emmanuel Bianco drove a stake into his abdomen,  he cut his throat and
tore his flesh ragged with a razor.  Covered in blood, he burned his
tongue with a white-hot knife and in the silence of his room, he fell
into a lake of blood which he named Red Lake before dying.

Emmanuel Bianco was a moralist.

read me the future in the sweat of boxers / in the degree of realism
which must be attained / before crying / read in the mission / read in
the intermission
of merchants / who have become the idols and the stars / that the world
must be developed / read in the touristic infrastructures  / in the
holes that worms make in apples / in the shadows of the tranquility /
of the holes that the worms have made in the apples / read me the
future in the intonation of auctioneers  / in the eyes of those who /
for a reward / are ready to denounce even petty criminals

A man whose name is not in any dictionary / steps forward on a stage
and looks at his audience / he is laid-back / he is cool / we have the
impression that he has been moving forward for a long time / he puts
his hands in his pockets / and turns the loose change / over and over /
and each time the noise is wonderful / and in the noise of the money
turning / this man also turns  / he stops / he looks / the world is an
origami that he unfolds / he says: / 'I like the free-market economy,
and you?'

read in the future  / who makes the bread / and who invents freedom /
read that one has to eat / read in the future and bring the definition
of being a GO-GETTER / when one is in front of the sea / and the sky
and the water become so blended / that it is no longer possible to
discern the horizon / read in the tip of the cape / in the night / when
the vertigo takes over / and it is necessary to do something / that you
have to believe  / that  there are things other than disorder  / read
in the future by all of the little windows in a big building / in the
city that is an anthill / in the ballet of automobiles / which make
circles in the parking lot / in the green trees / in the rivers / read
by the little windows / which do not open / except by their
transparence / read that it is written  / that you have to discharge
yourself from the liberty of the world / read me the future of being
visible /

read me the future in the silliness / and in the reason / that pushes
the bankers to act as they do / in the greed and in the moods / in the
friends of Villon / who have gone by the threshold of his door /
carried by the wind / read in the fragility of the world  / in the
light which wraps each airplane in the sky / between two cities / each
child / between each slap in the face / read me the future in the fruit
of work / which is often rotten / read me the future in the noise of
the high heels / in the corridors of institutions / where the granite
is an altar / where the industrial soap is the blood of sacrifices /
where each prisoner is the guardian of his own sentence / in the
silence of the institution / I stand up / I walk above the granite /
and I wish nature / I open a door /and by a window / I see another
institution / where maybe  / another worker / another janitor / also
dreams / he sees me / and he talks to me / I read with difficulty but I
read on his lips / he says:

'The end of the world is a room lit by a single light bulb, and when
the dreams go out it is to have reached the limit of the world.'

We look at each other for a long time / I remember to have wished that
he knew how to swim


Translation :   Valerie LeBlanc

Taken froM :
La limite élastique, 84 pp.
Published in 1998 by Les Éditions Perce-Neige
22-140, Botsford
Moncton, NB
E1C 4X4