Shorts for July – No murieron en las playas – À très bientôt

Three short poems (heading toward prose). Links here to the English titles, which are followed by versions (qu’il s’agisse de poésie ou de prose: ya sea en poesía o en prosa) en français y en español:

They did not die on the beaches (With a tip of the cap to Winston Churchill: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, . . . We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills . . . “)
How, he did not know (Comment ? Il n’en rien savait. ¿Cómo? No lo sabía.)
See you soon (À très bientôt. Hasta pronto.)

There are also Notes in English.

They did not die on the beaches

They did not die in the hills

They died in their parking lots

Of monoxide and heat

All the talk of climate change

They could not quite believe

To cremate through high-strength steel

The sun as yet too weak

Notes

An odd comment: as noted in previous posts, much of my interest is in slant or near rhymes.

A less odd comment: I have been struck that, during this sequence of heat waves here in France, I have heard no one besides me mention le rechauffement climatique (global warming). There’s been plenty of talk of air-conditioning, which is understandable, but of the source of the problem? (Similarly, The Guardian reports Most UK media reports on June heatwave failed to mention climate crisis.) As so often, Pedro Sánchez, the socialist Prime Minister of Spain, has been among the few leaders to speak out, calling attention to the urgent need to take action against global warming. (Among his phrases: “el cambio climático mata” y “no solo mata, sino que empobrece” (climate change kills; it not only kills, it also impoverishes.)

Mata personas, mata nuestro ecosistema, nuestra biodiversidad y destruye los bienes más preciados del conjunto de la sociedad que se ve afectada por estos incendios, sus casas, sus negocios o su ganado.” (It kills people, it kills our ecosystem, our biodiversity, and it destroys the things we as a society hold dear – our houses, our businesses, our livestock.”) – Pedro Sánchez, July 2022, at the scene of fires in Extremadura, Spain.

The other day a French restaurateur of my acquaintance first said that he thought the French and European Union governments had been too aggressive in seeking to protect the environment via regulations. And then, right after that, he complained about the lack of business in his restaurant. Well, with the temperature 35 C (95F), a lot of people were staying at home. If only governments had been more aggressive in combating global warming! Not only would this man’s business be doing better, our (and others’) health would be less endangered.

We live in an agricultural area, and so the ozone pollution, for example, not only affects our health, it lowers crop yields. And yet there are farmers, too, against government actions to protect the environment.

Allow me also to call attention to a superb interview, with biologist Marc Billaud and doctor and epidemiologist Jean-David Zeitoun, which was conducted by Stéphane Foucart and published in Le monde on 4 July 2026. Among their observations:

Lutter contre les pollutions, c’est prévenir les maladies et, donc, une machine à faire baisser la dépense publique. (Combating pollution means preventing disease and, therefore, is a way to reduce public spending.)

Ils ne sont pas morts sur les plages

Ils ne sont pas morts sur les plages,

Ils ne sont pas morts dans les collines.

Ils sont morts sur leurs parkings

Empoisonnés par le monoxyde et la chaleur.

Pourquoi croire les scientifiques ?

Le soleil demeure si peu fort

Pour incinérer l’intégralité de leurs corps

À travers les carrosseries.

No murieron en las playas

No murieron en las playas,

no murieron en las colinas,

murieron en sus aparcamientos

por el monóxido y el calor

Pero ¿cómo a los científicos podían creer ?

El sol no era lo bastante fuerte

para calcinar sus cuerpos enteros

a través del acero, cristal.

How, he did not know

But his phone somehow

He’d trained or forced

Not to make a sound.

One of the pleasures

Life now allowed

Comment ? Il n’en rien savait.

Son téléphone, de quelque manière que ce soit, il l’avait programmé –

Ou bien contraint ?

À ne pas émettre le moindre son.

Voilà un des grands plaisirs que la vie lui accordait.

¿Cómo? No lo sabía.

Pero su teléfono, de alguna manera, lo había entrenado…

¿O obligado?

A no emitir ningún sonido.

Uno de los placeres que ahora la vida le permitía.

See you soon

Inspired by a boy who was wandering after birds from a table outside Le Jardin du Marché, rue Gargoulleau, La Rochelle.

While after a bird

He, 2, was wandering,

He happened

To run into a dog.

Oh the adventures that were just beginning

And promising so much,

So much to see, so many to befriend,

If only his parents could please refrain

From rushing in his wake

And looking a bit aghast

When he called back:

“See you soon.”

À très bientôt

Inspiré par un petit garçon qui poursuivait des oiseaux depuis une table à l’extérieur d’un resto, rue Gargoulleau, La Rochelle.

Alors qu’il, âgé de 2 ans,

Partait à la recherche d’un oiseau

Il tomba, par hasard,

Sur un adorable chien.

Oh, les aventures qui ne faisaient que commencer

Et qui promettaient tant,

Tant de choses à découvrir et d’amis à se faire,

Si seulement ses parents pouvaient s’abstenir

De se précipiter dans son sillage

Et de prendre cet air un peu consterné

Quand il leur répondit :

« À très bientôt. »

Hasta pronto

Inspirado en un niño que perseguía pájaros desde una mesa al aire libre de un local en la calle Gargoulleau, La Rochelle.

Cuando él, de dos años,

perseguía a un pájaro

se topó, por casualidad,

con un perro encantador.

¡Ay, las aventuras que acababan de empezar

y que prometían tanto.

Tanto por ver y tantos amigos por hacer,

si tan solo sus padres pudieran evitar

seguirle los pasos a toda prisa,

y de ponerse un poco horrorizados

cuando él les respondió:

«Hasta pronto».

— Poem(s) and artwork by William Eaton. The artwork is one of a series developed from photographs of clouds over le Jardin des Tuileries, Paris. Another from this series may be found here: Swing dancing, divorce – Danser le swing, le divorce – El baile swing y el divorcio.