Poem of September 24
translated from the French by the author
Who crosses into you when you cross
Who crosses when you don’t cross
Who doesn’t cross when you cross
Who crosses when you can’t cross
Who doesn’t cross when you don’t cross
Who doesn’t want to cross
Who thinks they’re crossing
Who doesn’t look at you while crossing
Who might take the time to look at you.
Poème du 24 septembre
Qui traverse en toi quand tu traverses
Qui traverse quand tu ne traverses pas
Qui ne traverse pas quand tu traverses
Qui traverse quand tu ne peux pas traverser
Qui ne traverse pas quand tu ne traverses pas
Qui ne veut pas traverser
Qui croit traverser
Qui ne te regarde pas en traversant
Qui prendra peut-être le temps de te regarder.
Copyright © 2025 by Samira Negrouche. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 24, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.
“Written with eight other [poems], forming nine poems of nine lines, this poem is part of a public installation called Signs/Promises. It can be read as a geopolitical statement or as an intimate whisper to yourself or to someone else. It is an invitation to question and envision all the layers of displacement that are required to be able to cross a border—real or symbolic—to meet another. It reminds us how fragile the understanding of another reality can be and why we should keep remembering it, especially when we think we are aware.”
—Samira Negrouche
Samira Negrouche
