Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Lucía Estrada

LVII

I separate for a moment the water in the ditch: I don’t want to see the reflection any more,
the spectral caravan, always me, or the daughter of the first man.
At the bottom, a legion of unknown birds begins a song of the forms that are not repeated,
and they want to teach me that song, to liberate me in the spiral that leads to one’s own self-
abandonment. On either side are the beings united in wise hierarchies. They slowly take
possession of my body: first a foot, then the arms, the head and the neck in the vessel of the
youngest, and the place of the heart, in the middle, under the crown of the eagle. For the
vulture they reserve my belly. In that labor of condemnation there is a music I must know.
I will be a bird like them, half empty, half elemental, but, in me, others also will be.
I ask the name of this union, of the great symphony that begins and begins again, and by
way of an answer, the water arches itself on the puddle, clear, brilliant, beyond my desire,
and it allows me, it allows us to cross.

LVII

LVII

Separo por un momento el agua del pozo: no quiero más su reflejo, su caravana espectral,
siempre yo, o la hija del primer hombre.
Al fondo, una legión de aves desconocidas inicia el canto de las formas que no se repiten, y
quieren enseñármelo, liberarme de mí en la espiral que conduce al propio abandono. A lado
y lado están los seres unidos en sabias jerarquías. Van quedándose con mi cuerpo: primero
un pie, después los brazos, la cabeza y el cuello en la vasija de los más jóvenes, y el lugar
del corazón, el centro, bajo la corona del águila. Al buitre reservan mi vientre. Hay en esa
labor de condena, una música que debo conocer.
Seré pájaro como ellos, mitad vacío, mitad intemperie, mas, en mí, también serán los otros.
Pregunto el nombre de esta unión, de la gran sinfonía que comienza y vuelve a comenzar, y
como respuesta, el agua se arquea sobre el pozo, clara, brillante, más allá de mi deseo, y me
permite, nos permite cruzar.
Close

LVII

I separate for a moment the water in the ditch: I don’t want to see the reflection any more,
the spectral caravan, always me, or the daughter of the first man.
At the bottom, a legion of unknown birds begins a song of the forms that are not repeated,
and they want to teach me that song, to liberate me in the spiral that leads to one’s own self-
abandonment. On either side are the beings united in wise hierarchies. They slowly take
possession of my body: first a foot, then the arms, the head and the neck in the vessel of the
youngest, and the place of the heart, in the middle, under the crown of the eagle. For the
vulture they reserve my belly. In that labor of condemnation there is a music I must know.
I will be a bird like them, half empty, half elemental, but, in me, others also will be.
I ask the name of this union, of the great symphony that begins and begins again, and by
way of an answer, the water arches itself on the puddle, clear, brilliant, beyond my desire,
and it allows me, it allows us to cross.

LVII

I separate for a moment the water in the ditch: I don’t want to see the reflection any more,
the spectral caravan, always me, or the daughter of the first man.
At the bottom, a legion of unknown birds begins a song of the forms that are not repeated,
and they want to teach me that song, to liberate me in the spiral that leads to one’s own self-
abandonment. On either side are the beings united in wise hierarchies. They slowly take
possession of my body: first a foot, then the arms, the head and the neck in the vessel of the
youngest, and the place of the heart, in the middle, under the crown of the eagle. For the
vulture they reserve my belly. In that labor of condemnation there is a music I must know.
I will be a bird like them, half empty, half elemental, but, in me, others also will be.
I ask the name of this union, of the great symphony that begins and begins again, and by
way of an answer, the water arches itself on the puddle, clear, brilliant, beyond my desire,
and it allows me, it allows us to cross.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère