Pierre Reverdy (September 13, 1889 – June 17, 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual apprehension that ran through his poetry appealed to the Surrealist credo. He, though, remained independent of the prevailing “isms,” searching for something beyond their definitions. His writing matured into a mystical mission seeking, as he wrote: “the sublime simplicity of reality."
Dancing shadows And nothing at all But the spring of the wind The movement reaches out from the wall To grow Some fictions come to life For a moment or for Eternity All that changes is night
And I close by Someone plagued by remorse On a route where his footsteps leave a trace What is there we never see Only the wall makes a face My heart's gesture reaches out to the sea Who's big enough to bring the world to a stop And that movement which makes us weary When a blue star up there turns in reverse