I invite you to explore, the lands of my youth:
pastures, replete with cerises and bleuets;
a place, where the gentle wind blows;
where we live and we love en français.
It’s a place not without its common calamities,
but with its poets and prophets, all the same.
It’s a place where the people have different formalities;
but where we eat and we breathe, just like you, far away.
We struggle, we bicker, we argue, we scorn,
and the snow, and the potholes, just add to our joy;
but inside, I assure you, we’re just as lonely and romantic;
just as helpless; just as frail; as when we were born.
So let’s all forget, the carbon monoxide of our taxis;
let us all see, for once, heart to heart;
let us see each other, as fellow travellers;
let us seek what’s best and good, in art.
So come visit these cities, these farms and their mountains;
these lakes and these forests; and these boughs;
come see and come breathe what it means to be different, yes;
but let’s all be together in our souls.
- Pour Cédric Lejeune et Émilie Boulay, en reconnaissance.