Beneath The Moon

Beneath the full moon
Of sorcery
I detached your leaves
To hear the wolves
Howling.

I saw you threading
Your great blue robe.
Your hair
Looped
Blew in the wind.

You lifted up
Your hat
And your face appeared.

It was so pure,
It was so beautiful,
So fine as the aurora…

It expressed
Confidence.

I understood that you were waiting for me.

Joël, 13 years old.

*

The Moon and The Sun

In the sky the Sun was singing
“au claire de la lune…”
When the Moon heard this song
She got angry.
To humiliate the Sun
She pulled down his pants.
The Sun,
Completely furious,
Pulled up his pants
And never spoke to her
Again.

Patrick, 9 years old.

*

The Planets and The Moon

They charge and travel the Universe.
They fuse beneath my eyes.
They leave their packages of happiness in the sea
Where they shall stay forever.

But one planet stays in the same spot.

It’s the Moon.
The Moon, always there,
Stuck as if she were not allowed to move again,
As if she were staying there to give pleasure to humans
As if to give them a new happiness.

One night, I was contemplating her, and a flame arose,
A marvellous torrent appeared,
A marvellous torrent came out of her,
And its secret was revealed to me.

This secret was that of The Moon…
The Moon had a secret…!
It was hidden in a cave,
The cosmonauts have not found it.

The only one who knows it is me.

Frédéric, 8 years old.

*

Impressions of Night

A grey cat ends the day.
A black cat approaches in the night.
It drinks white milk in the day,
And black coffee at night.

A dog barks at death.
A feather squeals.

A spider, tireless Penelope,
Completes its web.

The night retires.

A jay cries out screechy notes
While flapping its wings.

Jerôme, 11 years old.

Translated from Poèmes d’enfants: La porte de la clé perdue, École Freinet. Casterman: 1975.