Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Luis Vidales

NATIONAL CINEMA

Through the yellowish
lantern sky
pass the Colombian clouds.
And how they show they haven’t rehearsed
before.

The trees
– because it’s the first time they have worked in the movies –
appear
stiff
inhibited
affected.

On the outskirts of Bogotá
prowls the moon.
And what a moon!
It is a moon varnished white
and with its own installation.

Outside
the night sky
dark . . . pompous
is an immense Gongorism.            

Then I see the moon.
Oh! Oh!
It projects on the wall
the anthropometric charts of the passers-by!

They are like burnt plates
escaping!

And in the movie theatre of the night
I applaud
the incoherent pictures
of this Pathé baby.

Cinematografía nacional

Cinematografía nacional

Por el cielo amarilloso
de linterna
pasan las nubes colombianas.
Y cómo se les nota que no habían ensayado
antes.

Los árboles
– por ser la primera vez que trabajan en cine –
aparecen
tiesos
cohibidos
amanerados.

Pero el Salto de Tequendama
lo hace con naturalidad
como si tuviera
una larga práctica
en cinematógrafo.

Por los alrededores de Bogotá
merodea la luna.
¡Y qué luna!
Es una luna barnizada de blanco
y con instalación propia.

Afuera
el cielo de la noche
oscuro . . . ampuloso
es un inmenso gongorismo.

Luego veo la luna.
¡Oh! ¡Oh!
¡Les saca a los transeúntes
sus fichas antropométricas contra el muro!

¡Son como clichés quemados
que huyen!

Y en el salón de la noche
yo aplaudo
las películas incoherentes
de este Pathé Baby.
Close

NATIONAL CINEMA

Through the yellowish
lantern sky
pass the Colombian clouds.
And how they show they haven’t rehearsed
before.

The trees
– because it’s the first time they have worked in the movies –
appear
stiff
inhibited
affected.

On the outskirts of Bogotá
prowls the moon.
And what a moon!
It is a moon varnished white
and with its own installation.

Outside
the night sky
dark . . . pompous
is an immense Gongorism.            

Then I see the moon.
Oh! Oh!
It projects on the wall
the anthropometric charts of the passers-by!

They are like burnt plates
escaping!

And in the movie theatre of the night
I applaud
the incoherent pictures
of this Pathé baby.

NATIONAL CINEMA

Through the yellowish
lantern sky
pass the Colombian clouds.
And how they show they haven’t rehearsed
before.

The trees
– because it’s the first time they have worked in the movies –
appear
stiff
inhibited
affected.

On the outskirts of Bogotá
prowls the moon.
And what a moon!
It is a moon varnished white
and with its own installation.

Outside
the night sky
dark . . . pompous
is an immense Gongorism.            

Then I see the moon.
Oh! Oh!
It projects on the wall
the anthropometric charts of the passers-by!

They are like burnt plates
escaping!

And in the movie theatre of the night
I applaud
the incoherent pictures
of this Pathé baby.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère