The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry

GHERASIM LUCA

let it be; a≈rmed always by this dialogue of earth and sky to the side of paths
imposed
let this madness be, deaf enough, keeper of the spring to quench so many
thirsts.
Amen.
—mary ann caws

Gherasim Luca 1913–1994

bucharest, romania

L

uca, an artist and creator of livres-objets (book-objects), invented ‘‘cubo-

mania,’’ a Surrealist technique in which a larger image is cut into smaller

squares and reassembled in random order. Just before the adoption of

communism, France served as political and literary model to Romania. Luca and

his fellow poet Gellu Naum therefore had little trouble promoting Surrealism in

their country. The movement thrived in Romania until the onset of communism.

Luca’s first works were written in his mother tongue, but he later turned to

French. He moved to Paris in 1952 and committed suicide in 1994. Principal

works: Héros-limite, 1970; Le Chant de la carpe, 1973; Paralipomènes, 1976; Théâtre

de bouche, 1984; La Proie s’ombre, 1991; La voici la voix silencieuse, 1996.

My Folly of Being

despair has three pairs of legs
despair has four pairs of legs
four pairs of light volcanic absorbent symmetrical legs
it has five pairs of legs five symmetrical pairs
or six pairs of light volcanic legs
seven pairs of volcanic legs
despair has seven or eight pairs of volcanic legs
eight pairs of legs eight pairs of socks
eight light forks absorbed by the legs