| Narlan Matos translated by Sally Perret |
|
|
| by Narlan Matos |
|
|
TWO POEMS BY NARLAN MATOS translated by Sally Perret Post-Columbians
barely just barely the Indians of the Americas failed to christianize the conquering Europeans
the Europeans conquering barely just barely the Indians of the Americas failed to christianize
barely, just barely
Enchanted Verses from La Havana
i write verses like one who walks at dawn down the calles of La Havana and sees magnolia trees pouring over walls materialized as if they were starfish all around green branches guard them from the darkness other silent white flowers observe them
i write verses like one who strums a gypsy guitar in the Plaza de España in Seville on an afternoon where a tree battles the slow wind like a bullfighter and a flamenco dancer makes birds with her hands (beneath their cool shade poetry sleeps)
i write verses like one who reads Florbela Espanca on a farm in Lisboa resting between the ivory white of the city and the red sun in a tavern at a table next to a bottle of red wine i discover and fall in love with the muse and the breeze and the salty sea at the end of the beach awaiting sailors that never left
i write verses like an awake Chilean island waits for a shipwreck like silver spoons under the Madrid morning sun the mistrust of liberty before a flowery field like one who sees with his soul and no longer needs eyes
i write verses like one who is suddenly born like one who sees Andalusia like one who plays with the light on the skin of things like the wind whispering to the port and the white sails like one who searches for sirens and treasures lost at sea
i write verses like lovers driven insane by beauty burn one afternoon in Andorra like those that commit suicide at dawn in the carriage of the unspeakable without a letter or suicide note i write verses like one who commits a crime and awaits punishment from the gods translated by Sally Perret from Narlan Matos'
|
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
| Featured Art: |
|---|
.jpg)
