Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Santiago Mutis Durán

THAT NIGHT SHE WANTED TO BE CALLED MARÍA ANTONIETA

The large dress of María Antonieta
– a Jamaican whore disguised as a White, almost pink –
was undoubtedly made by Amelia    the extraordinary one
The background of the scenery
looks like a shipwreck of stars
The queen and her pair of blue mulattoes
extend their red tongues toward the customers
These muscular negresses
with high red whigs, large red nails, red loinclothes . . .
are potent healthy ferocious vigorous
and brazenly whorish

María Antonieta’s dress is a magnificent stained-glass window
a negro church more beautiful than heaven

This place is shock-full  – like the unconscious –
with brutal full voracious creatures . . .
Everything is an orgy
They dance a historic  – even biblical – scene
but blasphemous and timeless
Negroes, spirits, sorcerers
madmen, monsters . . .
Desire has as much strength as hell
its appetite is powerful
the body’s hunger is joyful
perverse, magic like a dance
red with a white moon
Life here goes on beyond  – or closer than – thought
Each idea bites, with pleasure
Healthy teeth before a nocturnal apple

– inside each fruit there is a star

Life is cruel, implacable sap
a constellation
of inexplicable creatures singing in my senses
like the colors, like water from the night
sky, of bodies, of air . . .

A seaman on land, grotesque caricature
– as grotesque and brutal as any of us –
wrapped in a Van Gogh sky
drawing with his hands thoughts
of his solitary argot
false personal perishable
and beautiful, as also is the sea

and the seaman, maybe an imbecile
a man that has seen the tempests
that maddened with light William Turner
Her face her eyes     – with the same small candles of the sky –
the bestial inebriated brutish features
delirious with hunger
Her drunkenness deceives and sings on her shoulders
where the devil and the flight
of seagulls have glittered
grotesque puppet of blood and complexes
bitten by the sleep
of the immensities, of the great skies,
of lustful landscapes
of brothels, of all the ports of the winds,
the sea and that pack of miseries
that speaks in all languages . . .

Dazzling and chaotic street murals
of libido like an exacerbated light
sexuality flowing in a gush, in bellows,
impudent, vulgar
a whorehouse ritual – half bastard half mythical –
stamped on the flesh of the port
like a tattoo
Life leaves marks

It is no longer a matter of incandescent youth
of the health of the soul
the clear look of vivacious innocence   – as Manuel says
Now is the scandal of her life
The desires birds of prey fix their eyes on pleasure
A mature energy flows over
flaunts her arms her indecency her loving cruelty
Not sweetness or kindness today the man is
an animal full of life
carnal overcharged brazen . . .

Something so insatiable and powerful as tenderness
without the light of serenity.
A magnificent torment a delicious danger
a controlled force that increases
the flow of the blood the song of the abysses
For a moment her body is a magnificent
and soulless spectacle:
the brutal fire of Creation burning

But María Antonieta does not invite evil to her house
she has replaced it by play     and she smiles

Never has death been so despised

Esa noche se quiso llamar María Antonieta

Esa noche se quiso llamar María Antonieta

El amplio vestido de María Antonieta
– una ramera jamaiquina disfrazada de blanca, casi rosada –
está hecho indudablemente por Amelia     la extraordinaria
El fondo del escenario – como si algo tuviera fondo –
parece un naufragio de estrellas
La reina y su par de mulatas azules
alargan sus lenguas rojas hacia los clientes
Estas negras musculosas
de altas pelucas rojas, largas uñas rojas, endiabladas
cejas y desafiantes tacones rojos, tapaculos rojos . . .
son potentes sanas feroces vigorosas . . .
Y descaradamente putas

El vestido de María Antonieta es un vitral magnífico
una iglesia de negros más bella que el cielo

Este lugar está abigarrado     – como el inconsciente –
de criaturas brutales plenas voraces . . .
Todo es una orgía
Bailan una escena histórica     – y hasta bíblica –
pero blasfema y sin tiempo
Negros, espíritus, brujos
locos, monstruos . . .
El deseo tiene tanta fuerza como el infierno
su apetito es poderoso
el hambre del cuerpo es gozosa
perversa, mágica como una danza
roja con luna blanca
Aquí la vida sucede más allá del pensamiento – o más acá
Cada idea muerde, con placer
Dientes sanos ante una manzana nocturna

– dentro de cada fruta hay una estrella

La vida es crueldad, savia implacable
una constelación
de criaturas inexplicables que canta en mis sentidos
como colores, como agua del cielo
de la noche, de los cuerpos, del aire . . .

Un marinero en tierra, caricatura grotesca
– tan grotesca y brutal como cualquiera de nosotros –
envuelto en el cielo de Van Gogh
dibujando con las manos pensamientos
de su argot solitario
falso personal deleznable
y bello, como lo es también el mar

y el marinero, tal vez un imbécil
un hombre que ha visto las tormentas
que enloquecieron de luz a William Turner
Su rostro sus ojos – con las mismas candelillas del cielo –
sus rasgos bestiales ebrios brutos
delirantes de hambre
Su borrachera engaña y canta sobre sus hombros
donde han brillado el diablo
y el vuelo de las gaviotas
Monigote de sangre y complejos
mordido por el sueño
de las inmensidades, de los grandes cielos,
de paisajes lujuriosos
de prostíbulos, de todos los puertos de los vientos,
el mar y esa jauría de miserias
que habla todas las lenguas . . .

Deslumbrantes y caóticos murales callejeros
de libido como una luz exacerbada
sexualidad que se da a borbotones, a carcajadas,
descarada, vulgar
un rito prostibulario – mitad bastardo mitad mítico –
estampado en la carne del puerto
como un tatuaje
La vida deja marcas

Ya no se trata de la juventud incandescente
de la salud del alma
la mirada clara la inocencia vivaz – como dice Manuel
Ahora es el escándalo de la vida
Los deseos aves de presa clavan sus ojos en el placer
Una energía madura se desborda
ostenta sus armas su impudicia su amorosa crueldad
Ni dulzura ni bondad hoy el hombre es
un animal lleno de vida
carnal pleno desvergonzado . . .

Algo tan insaciable y poderoso como la ternura
sin la luz de la serenidad
Una magnífica tormenta un delicioso peligro
una controlada fuerza que aumenta
el caudal de la sangre el canto de sus abismos
Por un momento el cuerpo es un espectáculo
magnífico y sin alma:
arde el fuego brutal de la Creación

Pero María Antonieta no invita a su casa al mal
lo ha reemplazado por el juego     y sonríe

Nunca se ha despreciado tánto a la muerte
Close

THAT NIGHT SHE WANTED TO BE CALLED MARÍA ANTONIETA

The large dress of María Antonieta
– a Jamaican whore disguised as a White, almost pink –
was undoubtedly made by Amelia    the extraordinary one
The background of the scenery
looks like a shipwreck of stars
The queen and her pair of blue mulattoes
extend their red tongues toward the customers
These muscular negresses
with high red whigs, large red nails, red loinclothes . . .
are potent healthy ferocious vigorous
and brazenly whorish

María Antonieta’s dress is a magnificent stained-glass window
a negro church more beautiful than heaven

This place is shock-full  – like the unconscious –
with brutal full voracious creatures . . .
Everything is an orgy
They dance a historic  – even biblical – scene
but blasphemous and timeless
Negroes, spirits, sorcerers
madmen, monsters . . .
Desire has as much strength as hell
its appetite is powerful
the body’s hunger is joyful
perverse, magic like a dance
red with a white moon
Life here goes on beyond  – or closer than – thought
Each idea bites, with pleasure
Healthy teeth before a nocturnal apple

– inside each fruit there is a star

Life is cruel, implacable sap
a constellation
of inexplicable creatures singing in my senses
like the colors, like water from the night
sky, of bodies, of air . . .

A seaman on land, grotesque caricature
– as grotesque and brutal as any of us –
wrapped in a Van Gogh sky
drawing with his hands thoughts
of his solitary argot
false personal perishable
and beautiful, as also is the sea

and the seaman, maybe an imbecile
a man that has seen the tempests
that maddened with light William Turner
Her face her eyes     – with the same small candles of the sky –
the bestial inebriated brutish features
delirious with hunger
Her drunkenness deceives and sings on her shoulders
where the devil and the flight
of seagulls have glittered
grotesque puppet of blood and complexes
bitten by the sleep
of the immensities, of the great skies,
of lustful landscapes
of brothels, of all the ports of the winds,
the sea and that pack of miseries
that speaks in all languages . . .

Dazzling and chaotic street murals
of libido like an exacerbated light
sexuality flowing in a gush, in bellows,
impudent, vulgar
a whorehouse ritual – half bastard half mythical –
stamped on the flesh of the port
like a tattoo
Life leaves marks

It is no longer a matter of incandescent youth
of the health of the soul
the clear look of vivacious innocence   – as Manuel says
Now is the scandal of her life
The desires birds of prey fix their eyes on pleasure
A mature energy flows over
flaunts her arms her indecency her loving cruelty
Not sweetness or kindness today the man is
an animal full of life
carnal overcharged brazen . . .

Something so insatiable and powerful as tenderness
without the light of serenity.
A magnificent torment a delicious danger
a controlled force that increases
the flow of the blood the song of the abysses
For a moment her body is a magnificent
and soulless spectacle:
the brutal fire of Creation burning

But María Antonieta does not invite evil to her house
she has replaced it by play     and she smiles

Never has death been so despised

THAT NIGHT SHE WANTED TO BE CALLED MARÍA ANTONIETA

The large dress of María Antonieta
– a Jamaican whore disguised as a White, almost pink –
was undoubtedly made by Amelia    the extraordinary one
The background of the scenery
looks like a shipwreck of stars
The queen and her pair of blue mulattoes
extend their red tongues toward the customers
These muscular negresses
with high red whigs, large red nails, red loinclothes . . .
are potent healthy ferocious vigorous
and brazenly whorish

María Antonieta’s dress is a magnificent stained-glass window
a negro church more beautiful than heaven

This place is shock-full  – like the unconscious –
with brutal full voracious creatures . . .
Everything is an orgy
They dance a historic  – even biblical – scene
but blasphemous and timeless
Negroes, spirits, sorcerers
madmen, monsters . . .
Desire has as much strength as hell
its appetite is powerful
the body’s hunger is joyful
perverse, magic like a dance
red with a white moon
Life here goes on beyond  – or closer than – thought
Each idea bites, with pleasure
Healthy teeth before a nocturnal apple

– inside each fruit there is a star

Life is cruel, implacable sap
a constellation
of inexplicable creatures singing in my senses
like the colors, like water from the night
sky, of bodies, of air . . .

A seaman on land, grotesque caricature
– as grotesque and brutal as any of us –
wrapped in a Van Gogh sky
drawing with his hands thoughts
of his solitary argot
false personal perishable
and beautiful, as also is the sea

and the seaman, maybe an imbecile
a man that has seen the tempests
that maddened with light William Turner
Her face her eyes     – with the same small candles of the sky –
the bestial inebriated brutish features
delirious with hunger
Her drunkenness deceives and sings on her shoulders
where the devil and the flight
of seagulls have glittered
grotesque puppet of blood and complexes
bitten by the sleep
of the immensities, of the great skies,
of lustful landscapes
of brothels, of all the ports of the winds,
the sea and that pack of miseries
that speaks in all languages . . .

Dazzling and chaotic street murals
of libido like an exacerbated light
sexuality flowing in a gush, in bellows,
impudent, vulgar
a whorehouse ritual – half bastard half mythical –
stamped on the flesh of the port
like a tattoo
Life leaves marks

It is no longer a matter of incandescent youth
of the health of the soul
the clear look of vivacious innocence   – as Manuel says
Now is the scandal of her life
The desires birds of prey fix their eyes on pleasure
A mature energy flows over
flaunts her arms her indecency her loving cruelty
Not sweetness or kindness today the man is
an animal full of life
carnal overcharged brazen . . .

Something so insatiable and powerful as tenderness
without the light of serenity.
A magnificent torment a delicious danger
a controlled force that increases
the flow of the blood the song of the abysses
For a moment her body is a magnificent
and soulless spectacle:
the brutal fire of Creation burning

But María Antonieta does not invite evil to her house
she has replaced it by play     and she smiles

Never has death been so despised
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