We Loved our School

The day WW2 reached us.


We Loved our School


Everyone, including primary and secondary teachers
Were present, dressed in their best Sunday suits,
As if it were an exam day.
They assembled us under the covered playground.
There was total and complete silence.
The music teacher came forward, as if for a rehearsal,
The expression on his face revealing a profound sadness.
He said in a sweet and low, barely audible voice,
"Children, let us sing the 'Marseillaise'."
I really felt he had a hard time keeping up with us,
It was difficult for him to hide his emotion.
Then the principal came over to us.
We were struck by the paleness of his face.
With slow movements and in a moving silence
His eyes ran from one end of the playground
To the other, photographing the scene in his mind
And making a final picture of all of us.
With obvious pain he uttered the following words:
"Children of France! Our country is at war.
The Germans have just landed.
The school must be closed."
He stood there motionless;
Unable to say anything else
He gestured with his hand for us to go home
But no one budged. We left the lines very slowly.
It was hard for us to understand the real meaning of the situation.
Never before had our school seemed so dear to us,
Suddenly we loved it as we had never loved it before.

Copyright 2010 Emile Tubiana

Beautiful Child

Beautiful Child

Oh my sweet and pure one, filled with cheerfulness
Shine, twinkle like the summer sun
Show your greatness, your glory, your immenseness

Rise! break through the night and the fog!
Your existence is not mere chance
Among children, grown-ups and the elderly

You know neither space nor time
Where you are it's always spring
That's why I have been waiting for you ever since

Let us walk towards you, towards your light
From the bottom of our hearts like from a quarry
Our songs and our prayers resound

Here you are in the firmament
Oh you! beautiful child
As shiny as a diamond

You do not know melancholy, sadness,
Sorrow, fear, distress
Hatred, rancor or weakness...

You overcame my distrust
From my early childhood on
This is why I trust you

You discern our thoughts with astuteness
You enter those hearts which are ready
To live in love and peace

You act only your way
Without arrogance, pride or appearance
In the rhythm of your good pace

You know neither battle nor war
All men are brothers to you
In your life, that of your father

Copyright 1976 Emile Tubiana

L’étincelle

French Poem, for English version see "Beautiful Child"


L’étincelle

Tu ne connais ni intrigue, ni mensonge
Ni rancune, ni tort, ni vengeance
Devant toi disparaissent tous les songes
Tu es ma gloire, mon amour et ma chance

Tu es plus fine qu’une aiguille
Tes rayons n’ont pas de distance
Dans les ténèbres, tu brilles! Tu brilles
Te retrouver, te garder, oh! Quelle chance

Tu apparais comme un éclair
Sous le soleil, la pluie et le vent
Oh! Toi ma belle, oh! Toi ma chère
Tu ne connais ni or, ni argent

Te sentir nos corps frétillent
Dans les moments les plus graves
Tu apparais comme une fille
Pleine de charme et de suave

Merci! Merci! d’être venue
De loin je t’ai reconnue
Tu es toujours la bienvenue
Depuis longtemps tu m’as appartenu.

Copyright 1976 Emile Tubiana

Necessity

As our house was damaged by the German bombs, we had to flee out of town and found shelter on a French farm.

Necessity

During WWII my dad used to bring us bread
To the farm, far from bombs over our head
Our town was under constant aerial attack
We had fled it by night, each carrying a sack
Everywhere the dead and wounded were lying
We had seen many friends and neighbors dying.
One day we were scared, we saw dad from afar
Walking with a bag full of bread and with a jar
I asked, “Dad, how did you walk the miles so fast?”
Tired, exhausted, from aerial and artillery blast
He answered, “My son, hunger and fear
Teach us to walk and to run for those dear.”
Since, I understood that necessity is our guide
As it teaches us which way to decide
The best decisions I made until now
Were those where necessity showed me how.

Copyright 2010 Emile Tubiana

Our Intellect

Our Intellect


Is it intellect, memory or feelings
That distinguish human beings?
It's the different opinions, some say,
Different languages come into play

In fact human beings are all related,
Some are more, some are less cultivated
But all we learn and acquire externally
Cannot replace our feelings internally

The intellect is a good tool,
But it should not make of us a fool
It is adapted to life on earth
And should be taken at its worth

If we let our intellect wander
The risk is, it will get us under
And make us lose our feeling
The link to the source of healing

We should control our intellect
And learn what we should select
Action, love and joy is our goal
To slowly awaken our sleepy soul

Our faith’s and our life’s source
Is a powerful, eternal resource
That within ourselves we can find
If the outer world didn’t make us blind

Into our inner self we must be diving deep
The connection with ourselves to keep
To find the ocean of love and joy
And let it its help within us deploy.

Copyright 2010 Emile Tubiana