joey lees-cantel

summer haze

		
Flicking seasons has become a habit 

A close friend 

A familiar feeling 

I know when to switch and flick now 

When I first feel the wind hugging my legs 

When shorts shrink to my calves then my thighs 

When instead of dragging my rain boots, I speed up in my sneakers 

I know when to switch and flick the big light off and then the mighty sun lingers on 

I switch and flick year on, day on 

In class from hour to hour, we flick our different switches 

En classe d’heure en heure on feuillette entre nos différents changements 

De copain en friend, from teacher to the other professeur 

As I said it’s familiar 

But comes the wind and kick in my shoes 

The big switch flicks 

I know when to switch it 

It’s when I jump 

I’m in the air

Flick 

Feuillette 

Change

Échange 

And land  

The switches I use year on flick solely in my head 

If I flick them now, in this land, dans cette terre 

Nobody will see them switch, nobody will hear them switch 

Allo la terre!

I only flick one switch in this land 

And put on hold flicking all the other ones 

A month-long they will rest 

While I pester in this other land 

Familiar but far from the rest of my year-long habits 
The opening habit after switching 

Is running and tumbling and falling at the foot of the swing 

In my grandparents’ yard 

Le jardin de grand-père et grand-mère 

La balançoire de grand-père et grand-mère 

Là où je me balance d’année en année 

Juste après avoir balancé d’un côté du grand bleu à l’autre

Je me balance sur la balançoire 

I swing on the swing 

Comme je swing l’année durant de cours en class 

Comme je swing de langue en language 

Comme je swing d’avant en arrière 

Comme je me balance back and forth 

Like I swing d’avant en arrière 

I am pushed 

Je suis tirée 

Je suis tiraillée

I am torn 

I am pulled 

Je suis poussée
Hold it 

Tiens-le 

Tiens les deux côtés de la balançoire 

I’m holding it 

Holding it in 

As I learned early on 

That’s what we do when we swing daily, monthly, yearly 
When I swing in this land 

I put on hold the swinging across the big blue

Je suspends le balancement de l’autre côté du grand bleu 

Ce sont deux balancement différents 

Les rythmes ne sont pas les mêmes 

Les balançements ne sont pas les mêmes

Ils ne sont que changeants

They are only switches 

Every year a month-long switch occurs when the wind kicks in and the sweat shines in 

For a month I put on hold swings on the other side 

It’s always one or the other 

And they are never really together 

Swinging in harmony 

Swinging in rhythm 

Swinging in symbiosis 

Se balançant en symbiose 
This one year 

I knew I was gonna switch things up 

I would swing the other way round 

I would swing in my grandparents’ backyard longer than the previous times 

Before that, I clicked while slowing down my swing back home 

I clicked this place

I clicked that street 

I snapped that road there 

I snapped my ties to those swings 

Thinking I could tie the knots back together next year come 

Had I known those snapped streets 

Would be the last threads of evidence on those printed sheets

Proving that I used to swing back and forth between those streets 
As shorts came trending back year after year 

I kept on believing I would pack them 

And bring them swinging back to the other side 

Even when I outgrew the ones that once knew those swings 

I kept on hoping to introduce the new ones to my old turf 

But the decade is fast approaching 

I hardly exchange my shorts for new ones 

I just get hand me downs from my parents 

The ones they used to wear while watching me swing back and forth 

When I was knee-high
Standing now as tall as my mom 

Cup of coffee dangling from my hand 

New found comfort in this new year 

Mimicking habits of the people in those streets 

As I take a break from going back and forth 

My swings aren’t as powerful now 

They only reach the end of this land 

Le bout de cette terre

They don’t touch the sea anymore 

But it’s enough to hit “home” 

Not the one with my switches 

But the one where my mom, my dad, my brother swing in 

The one I swung in during my teen years 

The ones where I swung with them 

Celles où on a balancé ensemble 

Celles où j’ai balancé seule dans ce qui me manquait et ce qui me retenait

The ones where I swung alone between what I missed and what held me back 

I now go back to those teen years 

When I go back swinging to my parents’ home 

When I go back swinging to them 

When I wear shorts now 

It’s to swing with them