Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Alberto Vélez

IX

All nakedness is shipwreck:
You leave land and fall into a borderless country.
The other body is there, for you to touch and possess.
But it is always alien.

We dive into the flesh like dogs after a quarry
That is stronger, faster, wiser.

We too are quarries.
We undress and see, in the eyes watching us,
The world born and dead in an instant.

Sweet war.
I cannot turn away from it.
Cannot.
Have you been bitten so intensely by flesh?
Did you open your eyes at night to see your room full of mouths,
Breasts, buttocks, thighs like daggers, suns of flesh
In the ceiling and cornices?

What happens to the flesh, father, when you die?
Is there frolicking, time for the fatigue of copulation?

IX

IX

Toda desnudez es naufragio:
Abandonas tierra firme y caes en un país sin límites.
El otro cuerpo está ahí, para que lo toques y hagas tuyo.
Pero siempre es ajeno.

Buceamos en la carne como perros en busca de la presa,
Que es más fuerte, más rápida, más sabia.

También somos presas.
Nos desnudamos y vemos en los ojos que nos miran
Nacer y morir el mundo en un instante.

Dulce guerra.
No puedo abandonarla.
No puedo.
¿Te mordió a ti la carne con tanta intensidad?
¿Abriste en la noche los ojos para ver tu cuarto lleno de bocas,
Senos, nalgas, muslos como dagas, soles de carne
En el techo y las cornisas?

¿Qué pasa con la carne, padre, cuando mueres?
¿Hay retozo, tiempo para el cansancio de la cópula?
Close

IX

All nakedness is shipwreck:
You leave land and fall into a borderless country.
The other body is there, for you to touch and possess.
But it is always alien.

We dive into the flesh like dogs after a quarry
That is stronger, faster, wiser.

We too are quarries.
We undress and see, in the eyes watching us,
The world born and dead in an instant.

Sweet war.
I cannot turn away from it.
Cannot.
Have you been bitten so intensely by flesh?
Did you open your eyes at night to see your room full of mouths,
Breasts, buttocks, thighs like daggers, suns of flesh
In the ceiling and cornices?

What happens to the flesh, father, when you die?
Is there frolicking, time for the fatigue of copulation?

IX

All nakedness is shipwreck:
You leave land and fall into a borderless country.
The other body is there, for you to touch and possess.
But it is always alien.

We dive into the flesh like dogs after a quarry
That is stronger, faster, wiser.

We too are quarries.
We undress and see, in the eyes watching us,
The world born and dead in an instant.

Sweet war.
I cannot turn away from it.
Cannot.
Have you been bitten so intensely by flesh?
Did you open your eyes at night to see your room full of mouths,
Breasts, buttocks, thighs like daggers, suns of flesh
In the ceiling and cornices?

What happens to the flesh, father, when you die?
Is there frolicking, time for the fatigue of copulation?
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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