Yvette to Henry.

7 May

My dear Henry,

Has something happened again to hold up the mail or have you not received my letter (of about 3 weeks ago) or perhaps have you not written? I wait impatiently for a letter from you.

How are you, Henry? I can well imagine your reactions to the state of things in Palestine. I can talk about public matters but I don’t want to talk about them because that could hold up my letters or yours. And in any case, the stories of Palestine are terribly foreign to me.

But I thought of you when our communist ministers refused confidence to the government, I said to myself, that will provoke a crisis from which the Great De Gaulle will benefit. Those bastards Trotskyists are responsible because of the un-organised strike they provoked at Renault. And there we are obliged to oppose it without letting the extreme right profit from the situation. All that, I have thought of, as the good militant I try to be. But I have had warmth in my heart because you see the PCF has courage. It is faithful to the people and is not opportunistic. That’s for sure. It profits from certain favourable opportunities to the cause. But it has its heart in its chest. And I thought too that it would please you, it is good courage. And you seek around yourself in your world reasons for having courage. That’s a great thing, my darling. And then I heard echoes of that famous controversy between Here and Aragon. If I understood it right, Aragon defends the thesis of Communist art and Herve is content to say that the conception of the value of the “distribution” of art must be communist but that there is not a communist art form. Am I right in that?

If I am, then I am with that old brute Herve, for he is a brute- violent and categorical, with the character of a dog. As for Aragon, if her considers that there is a communist Art Form, I suppose that he and his very dear, very adored and very “publicised” Elsa Triolet are in the line of the Art Com? Oh well, in that case, I will leave the snow s of yesteryear! – if they are romantic- is Beethoven a Communist artist? – or classical – Euripides and Homer communists? And Bach? I prefer them to Aragon and Elsa Triolet (she makes me want to vomit!)

You see I am also very wicked, cant you my good darling. I don’t want to be. But I detest sectarians as much as opportunists and they put my nerves into a knot. …

Have the courage to write to me. Often, not a letter in six months. It is springtime darling, I send you a great joyous smile…. I hope that you have not forgotten to s mile, your smile is so happy and so good. You have so many smiles. Among others, there is your blissful smile, your tender smile (with kids) your victorious smile, your charmer’s smile, your playful smile, your kissing smile.

Good evening, little one. Write often,

I kiss you,

Your Yvette