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Poem

Federico Díaz-Granados

PRAYER OF THE VANQUISHED

Lord of the vanquished
I pray to you for myself, courier of the birds.
I never knew the magic and the miracle
before passing through the bonfire of resurrection.
I who never rose up early
nor was granted any sunset,
you banished my tears from your canvas, the dawn of my eyes.

Lord of the mistaken ones
why did you give her my summers
and me her tempests,
why out of the three mysteries
did you reveal to me first the painful ones?

Lord of solitude, patron of the weak
for each return there is an inventory of absences;
let my nights be inhabited by a few splendours
even though they are the last dawns to visit my flesh.
If we men are made in your own image
you must be a tired creature, a faded being
smelling of rancid bodies inside your skin,
ambassador of hunger
weighing its sadness to understand
why you gave us these souls with expiry dates.

Lord of the clumsy
you who know nothing of time,
who have in your kingdom Van Gogh, patron of light,
why did you send bitterness to this side of the wind,
to this valley of strayed ones, of orphans
where my angels get drunk
with the fermented oil of my solitude?

Lord of my failures and agonies,
I pray to you for my words, only seed of the first Paradise,
for my dreams that at dawn are ash on my pillow,
for my urgencies and failures, the jetsam of days,
and give me now, on this shore,
the wonder and the colour of the first awakening in death.

ORACIÓN DEL DERROTADO

ORACIÓN DEL DERROTADO

Señor de los derrotados
te ruego por mí, estafeta de los pájaros.
Nunca conocí la magia y el milagro
antes de pasar por las fogatas de la resurrección.
Yo que nunca fui madrugador
tampoco me fue otorgado ningún atardecer,
desterraste mis lágrimas de su lienzo, el alba de mis ojos.

Señor de los equivocados
por qué le diste a ella mis veranos
y a mí sus tempestades,
por qué de los tres misterios
me revelaste primero los dolorosos.

Señor de la soledad, Patrono de los débiles
por qué cada regreso es un inventario de ausencias
deja que a mis noches las habiten unos cuantos esplendores
aunque sean los últimos amaneceres que visiten mi carne.
Si nosotros los hombres estamos hechos a tu imagen y semejanza
debes ser una criatura cansada, un ser desteñido
con olor a cuerpo rancio entre tu piel,
embajador del hambre
que pesa su tristeza para entender
por qué nos diste estas almas con fecha de vencimiento.

Señor de los torpes
tu que nada sabes del tiempo,
que en tu reino tienes a Van Gogh, Patrono de la luz,
por qué enviaste la amargura a este lado del viento,
a este valle de extraviados, de huérfanos
donde mis ángeles se emborrachan
con el óleo fermentado de mi soledad.

Señor de mis fracasos y agonías
te ruego por mis palabras, única semilla del primer Paraíso,
por mis sueños que amanecen hechos ceniza en mi almohada,
por mis urgencias y naufragios, la resaca de los días
y dame ya, en esta orilla
el asombro y el color del primer despertar en la muerte.
Close

PRAYER OF THE VANQUISHED

Lord of the vanquished
I pray to you for myself, courier of the birds.
I never knew the magic and the miracle
before passing through the bonfire of resurrection.
I who never rose up early
nor was granted any sunset,
you banished my tears from your canvas, the dawn of my eyes.

Lord of the mistaken ones
why did you give her my summers
and me her tempests,
why out of the three mysteries
did you reveal to me first the painful ones?

Lord of solitude, patron of the weak
for each return there is an inventory of absences;
let my nights be inhabited by a few splendours
even though they are the last dawns to visit my flesh.
If we men are made in your own image
you must be a tired creature, a faded being
smelling of rancid bodies inside your skin,
ambassador of hunger
weighing its sadness to understand
why you gave us these souls with expiry dates.

Lord of the clumsy
you who know nothing of time,
who have in your kingdom Van Gogh, patron of light,
why did you send bitterness to this side of the wind,
to this valley of strayed ones, of orphans
where my angels get drunk
with the fermented oil of my solitude?

Lord of my failures and agonies,
I pray to you for my words, only seed of the first Paradise,
for my dreams that at dawn are ash on my pillow,
for my urgencies and failures, the jetsam of days,
and give me now, on this shore,
the wonder and the colour of the first awakening in death.

PRAYER OF THE VANQUISHED

Lord of the vanquished
I pray to you for myself, courier of the birds.
I never knew the magic and the miracle
before passing through the bonfire of resurrection.
I who never rose up early
nor was granted any sunset,
you banished my tears from your canvas, the dawn of my eyes.

Lord of the mistaken ones
why did you give her my summers
and me her tempests,
why out of the three mysteries
did you reveal to me first the painful ones?

Lord of solitude, patron of the weak
for each return there is an inventory of absences;
let my nights be inhabited by a few splendours
even though they are the last dawns to visit my flesh.
If we men are made in your own image
you must be a tired creature, a faded being
smelling of rancid bodies inside your skin,
ambassador of hunger
weighing its sadness to understand
why you gave us these souls with expiry dates.

Lord of the clumsy
you who know nothing of time,
who have in your kingdom Van Gogh, patron of light,
why did you send bitterness to this side of the wind,
to this valley of strayed ones, of orphans
where my angels get drunk
with the fermented oil of my solitude?

Lord of my failures and agonies,
I pray to you for my words, only seed of the first Paradise,
for my dreams that at dawn are ash on my pillow,
for my urgencies and failures, the jetsam of days,
and give me now, on this shore,
the wonder and the colour of the first awakening in death.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère