Everything, Nothing, and I'm a Middle Child

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If you knew. . .
How much you inspire me
All these beautiful smiles
What a beautiful angel you make.

To be sure, I have never writtten a poem in French. But I could....if only I knew French. Thanks for the touching and sincere poem.....

And so Happy Mother's Day, Mara. If you planning un'affaire for toi, please let me join. I don't want to look like a fleur de wall (wallflower, natch) while chacun but moi is enjoying la vie en rose on Mother's Day. Don't laissez moi. Cette nuit sortez, but avec moi s'il vous plait.

You wrote your lovely mom:
"What a beautiful angel you make"

Uh, were you referring to you here?

First, I'd like to assure my other readers that Paul is real and I know him. :-)
No, Paul, it is not Mother's Day and I am not referring to myself making any angels. I had thought of translating that line as "What a beautiful angel you are", but as that really is not what the French said I kept it as 'make'. Voila. (but maybe I should check with some of the other translators. . .)

Well, am I to assume that you chose this poem to post because it rings true with our relationship? If that is the case, please allow me to assure you that I am in no hurry to make an angel. Or be one, either. And, Paul, I love your Franglais.

Hmm, knowing the larger context of the poem, you're right Maman about the angel thing - though I was taking more of an earthly angel thing :-)

There's a French song that always makes me cry. I can't remember the artist, but it starts, phonetically,

une ne kita pas, une ne kita pas...

It is the saddest song I've ever heard, and it was apparently written by a Frenchman to his mother.

Hmm, probably "on ne quitte pas", perhaps (something about not leaving). The French use the usually silent 'e' at the end of words in their songs to add lyricism, hence the k(ee)t-a in the song, which spoken would be just "keet".

I know, too much info.

Mara!

Thanks, I found it! It's actually "Ne me quitte pas."

And here are the lyrics:

Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier
Qui s'enfuit déjà
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
A savoir comment
Oublier ces heures
Qui tuaient parfois
A coups de pourquoi
Le coeur du bonheur

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Oÿ il ne pleut pas
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu'après ma mort
Pour couvrir ton corps
D'or et de lumière
Je ferai un domaine
Oÿ l'amour sera roi
Oÿ l'amour sera loi
Oÿ tu seras reine

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Je t'inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras
Je te parlerai
De ces amants-là
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs coeurs s'embraser
Je te raconterai
L'histoire de ce roi
Mort de n'avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
De l'ancien volcan
Qu'on croyait trop vieux
Il est paraät-il
Des terres brulées
Donnant plus de blé
Qu'un meilleur avril
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s'épousent-ils pas

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas
Je ne vais plus pleurer
Je ne vais plus parler
Je me cacherai là
A te regarder
Danser et sourire
Et à t'écouter
Chanter et puis rire
Laisse-moi devenir
L'ombre de ton ombre
L'ombre de ta main
L'ombre de ton chien

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Roughly translated (Thank you, babelfish), it means:
Do not leave me It is necessary to forget All can forget itself Which flees already Oublier the time Of the misunderstandings And time wasted to know how Oublier these hours Which killed sometimes A blows of why the heart of happiness Do not leave me does not leave me does not leave me does not leave me Me I will offer pearls of Venues rain to you from country Oÿ it does not rain I will dig the Ju ground
There is more, but this is all Babelfish could handle in one bite.
N'oublier pas, I am not the one who quitte anyone. Y'all left here, remember? And no pleuring when I do quitte, either. No regrets. Let's fix whateverr needs to be fixed now.