In the realm of motes
(excerpt)
In the same body of water the elements
are less detached, the minnows drift
everywhere. Wrack floats in the rippling
wake of creatures. Bodies transform in
the absence of light, in the sluggish grip
of pressures. In sludge, secretly, fish
swim a space in which every gesture is a
risk; motionless for an oblivion,
sometimes suddenly they move. Scarred,
mutilated, bumping into one another in
the circle.
Mangroves harbor interlaced structures
in their waters. Twigs and protuberances
multiply and draw together; roots stray
away from these aquatic knots and sink
into a mixture denser than mud.
The things of the darkness are into
themselves rushed.
By Baptiste Gaillard
Translated by Aditi Machado
Writer and artist, Baptiste Gaillard has exhibited installations and objects in galleries and art spaces in Geneva, Berlin, Lucerne, Basel and Lausanne. Language has gradually become the subject of his work. His texts are regularly published in reviews (notably in larevue*, the magazine of beautiful letters, rehaut, fabric, watts). He has published the collections Le Chemin de Lennie (Héros-Limite/HEAD, 2013), r a z (Contre-mur, 2017), Un domaine des corpuscules (Hippocampe, 2017) and Bonsaï (Hippocampe, 2018). He has received several prizes and scholarships, including a writing grant from the Commission consultative de mise en valeur du livre du Canton de Genève (2013), a Swiss Literature Award (2018), a Pro Helvetia creative-writing scholarship (2020) and a creative-writing scholarship from the Centre national du livre (2020). For further information visit: https://baptistegaillard.com
Aditi Machado is a poet and translator who lives in the United States. She has published two collections of poetry: Some Beheadings (2017) and Emporium (2020). For more information visit https://www.aditimachado.com/
Photo of Baptiste Gaillard by OFC Ladina Bishof