Writing Page
Jacques Prevert
from Paroles
French version here
Two and two four
four and four eight
eight and eight make sixteen
Repeat! says the teacher
Two and two four
four and four eight
eight and eight make sixteen.
But there is the lyrebird
who passes in the sky
the child sees him
the child hears him
the child calls him
Save me
play with me
bird!
So the bird descends
and plays with the child
two and two four
Repeat! says the teacher
and the child plays
the bird plays with him
four and four eight
eight and eight make sixteen
and sixteen and sixteen what do they make?
They don’t make anything sixteen and sixteen
and above all not thirty-two
anyway
they leave
And the child has hidden the bird
in his desk
and all the children
hear his song
and all the children
hear the music
and eight and eight leave when it’s their turn
and four and four and two and two
get out of there when it’s their turn
and one and one make neither one nor two
one and one leave equally
And the lyrebird plays
and the child sings
and the teacher yells:
When you have finished clowning
But all the other children
listen to the music
and the walls of the class
crumble quietly
and the windows turn back into sand
the ink turns back into water
the desks turn back into trees
the chalk turns back into cliff
the feather pen turns back into bird
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