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Ezquisite Corpse - A Journal of Letters and Life
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All Poetry & Nothing But

Five Poems
by Jorge Luis Campos

Five Poems
translation by Hugh Fox

Ter O Aprendiz Ao Sol
a Marcel Duchamp

1

Ter o aprendiz ao sol
nao e o mesmo que

senti-lo em equilibrio

Os pistilos sao como
os restos de um

orgao que se rasga
e arrasta para fora

do cenario contumaz

2

A coisa de que falo
e decerto uma orelha

ou algo facil
de dizer

(tampouco e vil
vista de baixo)


3

Tudo e sempre
a mesma coisa

-- sempre a
mesma coisa

Tudo e sempre
o que aponta -

como flecha -
o percurso


4

Nesse caso
um sussurro

de palavras
quase ditas

quase finas de
tao claras


5

Prefiro o
mapa

inchado
do infinito


6
Se o mundo inteiro
cabe em minha boca

matilha, alpendre
que fervilha

Ja nao set quern sou -
nao penso no que sou


7

Ter o aprendiz ao sol
e minha resposta

A mais plausivel das
respostas





Momento Perfeito
a Robert Mapplethorpe

A despeito de
coisas tao cruas

o dia ameaca
comecar assim -

num ranger
de dentes -

sem mais
nem menos



A Origiem Do Mundo
a Gustave Courbet

Ha uma doenca
qualquer tagarela

nesse buco de
quasares negros

Ao meu lado, aqui
comigo, a carne

ferve aos poucos -
cortes lentos

Mas por que nao
regurgita agora

a vulva caqui
linguaruda

sob a luz
desenroscada

da manha?



Misterio De Isidore Ducasse
a Man Ray

Devo-lhe a alma mats
do que a um vulto

em becos que se agitam -
as vezes tremo de prazer

na voltagem que nao para
de tornar-me o mais

infame dos enigmas; a
que devagar me rendo

pra onde quer que me
olhe - eis que me digo

e curvo sob um halo
de opalas desdentadas



Mito da Profundidade
a Mark Tansey

Manha contem certo balido
algum corpo intraduzivel

As vezes, posta pela casa
fica entre os livros -

tempo de acordar
(de novo deitar)

e dormir

To have an apprentice
under the sun

for Marcel Duchamp

1

is not the same as
feeling him in equilibrium

The pistils are like
the remains of an organ

that rips itself apart
drags to outside of

the stubborn scenery


2

The thing I say
is certainly an ear

or something
easy to say

(nor is it vile if
seen from below)


3

Everything is always
the same thing

it's always the
same thing

Everything is always
what points -

like an arrow -
the way


4

In this case
a whisper

of words
almost said

almost thin with
such clarity


5

I prefer the
swollen

map of
infinity


6

If the whole world
fits in my mouth

a pack, a porch
that swarms

I still don't know
who I am

I don't think
who I am


7

To have an apprentice
under the sun

It's my only answer -
the most plausible

of answers



The Perfect Moment
for Robert Mapplethorpe

Despite such
raw things

the day menaces
to begin like this -

in a grinding
of teeth -

neither more
nor less



The Origin of the World
for Gustave Courbet


There is a vague and talky disease
in that fuzz of black quasars

beside me; here with me the flesh
gradually boils - slow cuts

But why doesn't it puke now
the khaki vulva with its tongue

under the untwisted light
of morning?


The Mystery of Isidore Ducasse
(translation by Leslie Bary)
for Man Ray

I owe him my soul more
than to any face

in trembling alleyways -
I come to shiver with pleasure

at the voltage that keeps on
making me the most

infamous of enigmas; to which
I slowly succumb

wherever I observe
myself - there - I say to myself

and bow beneath a halo
of toothless opals



The Myth of Depth
for Mark Tansey


Morning has a certain bleat -
some undefinable body

At times dispersed by the house
it stays among the books

It's time to wake up
(to go to bed again)

It's time to sleep

 

All Poetry & Nothing ButClash of CivilizationsEC ChairFeatured PoetsForeign DeskGalleryStage
Hedonism: Theory & PracticeLetters & GlossolaliaArt of MarriageMoney TalkPets & BeastsZounds

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