Michel Butor

Language: french

CARNAC

J'avais douze ans je me trouvais
en vacances chez des amis
la guerre cognait à la porte
suintaient menaces de partout

C'était la Trinité-sur-mer
et l'on nous menait visiter
les grands sites des environs
mégalithes criques églises

Il n'y avait pas de barrière
pas de ticket pas de gardien
cela commençait doucement
auprès des dernières maisons

Ajoncs et genêts quelques vaches
venaient se frotter aux menhirs
bourdonnant d'odeurs et légendes
entre lesquels je m'égarais

Terrain de jeux incomparable
nous cachant et nous poursuivant
dans la brume et le miel des siècles
chevaliers corsaires sorciers

En restant à portée de voix
des adultes qui nous laissaient
muser parmi la paix des pierres
puis répondaient à nos questions

Confusément en nous parlant
des peuples antérieurs aux Celtes
sur lesquels nous ne connaissons
guère plus qu'à ce moment-là

Je n'y suis jamais retourné
je ne l'ai jamais oublié
me transformant moi-même en pierre
dans mes alignements d'enfance

Michel Butor

* 14.09.1926, Mons-en-Barœul, France
† 24.08.2016, Contamine-sur-Arve, France

Michel Butor was born on September 14, 1926, in a suburb of Lille, France. His father, Emile Butor, worked in the administration of Chemins du fer du Nord, but was passionate about drawing, watercolor painting, and wood carving. In 1929, the Butor family moved to Paris where young Michel would complete all of his studies, except for 1939-1940, during the Phoney War, which he spent in Evreux.

Having been already been possessed by the “demon of writing” for some time, Michel Butor published his first novels through the French publisher Editions Minuit, with the help of his agent-manager Georges Lambrichs. He continued to travel, for both professional reasons and exploratory ones. He traveled to Greece and then Switzerland, where he met Marie-Jo who became his wife in 1958. Three daughters were not long to follow, as well as a fourth later on. This period in his life was characterized by literary awards, work at publishing houses, a bit of the Parisian lifestyle, conferences here and there, as well as several trips to the United States. After May ’68, Michel Butor decided to return to teaching in French universities. He moved to Nice after a year in the Far West of the United States. He was named professor of the faculté de lettres in Geneva.

His books accumulated, each one with a new surprise : essays, “narratives of daytime and nighttime,” poems, and new combinations of all of these. These all brought about the demise of a dull and routine mindset while his collaborations with painters, musicians, and photographers multiplied. He took trips to Japan, Australia, and China. Retired since 1991, he lived in a village in Haute-Savoie, France until his death in 2016.

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CARNAC

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