Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Alberto Vélez

XXXV

What were you looking at then, when the light
Was not light but death throes?

Your old age was a landslide:
First your shoulders fell off,
Then your arms, and then your dreams.
There was nothing left of you.

How did you live?
What pain sustained you?

We resemble each other in one thing:
The stubborn decision to endure
Without scandal the wrath of God.

XXXV

XXXV

¿Qué mirabas entonces, cuando la luz
No era luz sino agonía?

Tu vejez fue un alud:
Primero se te cayeron los hombros,
Después los brazos y por fin los sueños.
No quedó nada de ti.

¿Cómo viviste?
¿Qué dolor te sostuvo?

En algo nos parecemos:
En la terca decisión de soportar
Sin escándalos la ira de Dios.
Close

XXXV

What were you looking at then, when the light
Was not light but death throes?

Your old age was a landslide:
First your shoulders fell off,
Then your arms, and then your dreams.
There was nothing left of you.

How did you live?
What pain sustained you?

We resemble each other in one thing:
The stubborn decision to endure
Without scandal the wrath of God.

XXXV

What were you looking at then, when the light
Was not light but death throes?

Your old age was a landslide:
First your shoulders fell off,
Then your arms, and then your dreams.
There was nothing left of you.

How did you live?
What pain sustained you?

We resemble each other in one thing:
The stubborn decision to endure
Without scandal the wrath of God.
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
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère