20.40
Jour 8
On garde le sourire
Sans trop se brosser les dents
Peut-être
Entamerais-je ces cours
en ligne
Que j’entasse
en colonne
Ou ferais-je un énième tour
à la cuisine
J’étalerais ma frustration
sur une tartine
Que je croquerais
à pleines dents
Comme on nous disait
de croquer la vie
Avant
20.40
Day 8
We keep smiling
Without really brushing our teeth
Maybe
I will join this online class?
That I pile up
In columns and rows
Or will I walk yet another time around the kitchen
I will spread a layer of frustration on my toast
that I will bite into with full teeth
Just like they told us to live life (to the fullest)
Before
20.40
Chaque jour à mon réveil
Je cherche le soleil
Mais la terre tourne
Et le sommeil l’emporte
Jour, soir qu’importe
J’ai la tête qui tourne
De la veille
Et je perds mon sommeil
20.40
Every day when I wake up
I look for the sun
But the earth rotates
And sleep carries it away
Day, night, it does not matter
I feel my head spinning
From last night
and I lose my sleep
Photo: Ola Dapo (2019)
Poet Bio
Home?
Tunis, Tunisia.
What is home to you?
Home is a state of well-being, warmth and peace.
Feryelle Ben Mosbah is a student from Tunis, Tunisia. At the wake of the pandemic, she found herself quarantined at home, alone with her mom. Through her short poems, she tells the story of how she experienced quarantine as a twenty-something.
These poems are taken from a collection written during quarantine titled Journal d'une vingtaine en quarantaine. It can be found at instagram.com/journal20.40.