The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

MICHELLE GRANGAUD

gyrolaser with accelerometer), if not, how can they zoom forward, then stop
dead in stationary flight, to end up gliding, a banking on wing — what
turbulence!
willows alone experience the inversions of vibrations
dragonflies — with light lift and large carrying surface classified defense secret
— are an ensemble — the front and back wings of which don’t work together
ash: which is male, which is female in the powerful distant game of the ashes
essay on obsession: willows have only the sketches
of obsessions
bearing
ingresque and not

P.S. I tell Degas that in the evening, when I come home, my wife can read on my
face whether it was the character of the willow that I’d worked on the most, or the
ash act, or that of the kingfisher gone into the Stieglitz moon, or even the one, in
total post-combustion, of the dra-fly-gone.
—cole swensen

Michelle Grangaud 1941–

algiers, algeria

G

rangaud is a specialist in anagrams. Her work makes use of these and

many other experimental techniques. In 1995 she joined the OULIPO

(Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle), comprising writers from around

the world who are interested in investigating literary constraints and experimenta-

tion. She is currently a member of the editorial board of the review Po&sie. Principal

works: Mémento-framents, 1987; Renaître, 1990; Stations, 1990; Geste, 1991; Jours le

jour, 1994; Formes de l’anagramme, 1995; Poèmes fondus, 1997; État civil, 1998.

Translators’ Note

Michelle Grangaud drew inspiration from the play on words and num-

bers of the oulipo group in producing her 1995 collection of poems

entitled Formes de l’anagramme. In this book she creates poems in which