Eric Nicolas' Editorial

Eric Nicolas’ editorial, (if that’s not a touch grandiose as an expression).. More like a motley collection of ideas to be... tasted in the right order.

If ever there was a condition into which I would plunge most contentedly, it would be that of the poet. I deliberately mention “condition”, and if being a poet is my condition, my profession is that of a vigneron. It’s a job that I love deeply, and one I seek to study how to improve every day of my life, so that it will last. It’s a profession that leads us into all sorts of conditions.

The link between condition and profession lies in being drawn towards others, the gift of oneself, in all that is most wonderful. It’s also - most importantly - the unveiling of what is pure and free, spontaneous and without calculation.

I still want to learn, because learning implies at least two people, one giving and another receiving And what would learning be were it not followed up by passing on that received gift of knowledge.

Curiosity and doubt are invaluable allies, while meeting and conversation are valuable excuses.

Poetry is a simple art, because subtlety and sensitivity don’t necessarily need erudition - far from it. The magic of the arrangement of words is that it leads towards a feeling that can or must be expressed in speech. Some poems are profoundly moving, so evocative that they can transport us to a condition of profound well-being. For many, they reassure as well.

To write poems is a real act of giving of the self, in what one want to express and to share at the deepest level. In some ways winemaking is the same, though this is meant in all modesty. The grapes - with the wine following on - are born of great joy, but also deep suffering. The self giving is without reserve. To make wine is to “ensure life in the short term” as René Char said, sometimes with notions of the long term, of long preservation of a memory sadly all too deficient. But poetry.... it is immortal....

And what is the value of all this? What a sad concept, do you believe that one calculates the price of a meeting, of sharing, of pleasure and joy, of happiness, of effort that fortunately turns out to be inspired.

You will be welcome at Bellivière at any time, and for whatever felicitous reason. Every meeting will have its own unique taste.

Soon...!