Poem
Gloria Posada
They Say
They saythat when the Earth spins,
at different moments, cities
lie under the same sky
that there is a place
where the oceans mingle
in shades of blue
that sand landscapes crumble
to teach us the immutable beauty of the rocks
that the butterfly may be born
and die in one day
that the clouds above the sea’s horizon
point to the existence of islands
that light sparkles remain in the air
after the fluttering
that something strange happens
when the canoe touches water for the first time
that the hunter will never find his quarry
and feeds on pretenses and shades without knowing
that dead turtles’ shells
draw stone patterns
that deserts blossom
to become sand again weeks later
that birds are the first to arrive
at a new island
that the serpent’s skin changes
and remains in the mud
while the body glides
that feathers descend from the flight
to remind us that the weightless also falls
that plants have strange forms
of movement and motionlessness
that butterfly cocoons and wings
are traces of the passing time
that another jungle exists in branches
and leaf carpets
that brittle empty eggs from the last hatch
become part of the dust covering everything
that deer horns cannot be devoured
because each being leaves behind some food for the earth
that in each generation
hunters and quarries exchange places
found another jungle
that when the winds come
from the wrong direction
we shall not be able to go back home
that to each of us in our lives
ambushes are laid
until in the last one we perish
that amputated limbs hurt
and can feel the heat
that the temperature will rise
and the drought will kill moisture in soils,
plants, bodies, mouths
that a compass is useless
at the North Pole
that the cold gets into the bones
and one day everyone will unite to stay warm
that no one remembers
what they saw at birth
that the Moon
is a desolate place
Death
is a black-winged cloud
and descends
that in parallel to this world
there are other, narrated ones
the voice creates the invisible
and they say more words
sentences that are oblivion
distance produced
by all certainty
© Translation: 2011, Laura Chalar
DICEN
DICEN
Dicenque al rotar la Tierra
ciudades en diferentes momentos
están bajo un mismo cielo
que hay un lugar
donde océanos se unen
en tonalidades del azul
que paisajes de arena se deshacen
para enseñarnos la inmutable belleza de las rocas
que en un día la mariposa
puede nacer y morir
que nubes sobre el horizonte del mar
señalan la existencia de islas
que destellos de luz persisten en el aire
después del aleteo
que algo extraño sucede
cuando la canoa toca por primera vez el agua
que el cazador nunca encontrará su presa
y sin saberlo se alimenta de simulacros y sombras
que caparazones de tortugas muertas
forman dibujos de piedra
que desiertos florecen
y semanas después son otra vez arena
que las aves son las primeras en llegar
a una nueva isla
que la piel de serpiente cambia
y permanece en el lodo
mientras el cuerpo se desliza
que plumas descienden del vuelo
para recordar que lo leve también cae
que plantas tienen extrañas formas
de movimiento y quietud
que capullos y alas de mariposas
son indicios del tiempo que pasa
que otra selva existe en ramas
y suelo de hojas
que huevos vacíos de la última nidada
frágiles se integran al polvo que todo lo cubre
que astas de ciervo no pueden ser devoradas
porque cada ser deja algo para alimento de la tierra
que en cada generación
cazadores y presas se intercambian
fundan otra selva
que cuando vientos provienen
de dirección equivocada
no podremos regresar a casa
que a cada uno en su vida
se le tienden emboscadas
hasta que en la última sucumbe
que miembros amputados del cuerpo duelen
y pueden sentir calor
que aumentará la temperatura
y la sequía extinguirá la humedad en suelos
plantas, cuerpos, bocas
que una brújula es inútil
en el Polo Norte
que el frío penetra huesos
y un día todos se reunirán para darse calor
que nadie recuerda
qué vio al nacer
que la Luna
es lugar desolado
La muerte
es nube de alas negras
y desciende
que paralelo a este mundo
hay otros narrados
la voz crea lo invisible
y dicen más palabras
frases que son olvido
distancia producida
por toda certidumbre
© 2002, Gloria Posada
From: Naturalezas
Publisher: Ediciones Sin Nombre, México D.F.
From: Naturalezas
Publisher: Ediciones Sin Nombre, México D.F.
Poems
Poems of Gloria Posada
Close
They Say
They saythat when the Earth spins,
at different moments, cities
lie under the same sky
that there is a place
where the oceans mingle
in shades of blue
that sand landscapes crumble
to teach us the immutable beauty of the rocks
that the butterfly may be born
and die in one day
that the clouds above the sea’s horizon
point to the existence of islands
that light sparkles remain in the air
after the fluttering
that something strange happens
when the canoe touches water for the first time
that the hunter will never find his quarry
and feeds on pretenses and shades without knowing
that dead turtles’ shells
draw stone patterns
that deserts blossom
to become sand again weeks later
that birds are the first to arrive
at a new island
that the serpent’s skin changes
and remains in the mud
while the body glides
that feathers descend from the flight
to remind us that the weightless also falls
that plants have strange forms
of movement and motionlessness
that butterfly cocoons and wings
are traces of the passing time
that another jungle exists in branches
and leaf carpets
that brittle empty eggs from the last hatch
become part of the dust covering everything
that deer horns cannot be devoured
because each being leaves behind some food for the earth
that in each generation
hunters and quarries exchange places
found another jungle
that when the winds come
from the wrong direction
we shall not be able to go back home
that to each of us in our lives
ambushes are laid
until in the last one we perish
that amputated limbs hurt
and can feel the heat
that the temperature will rise
and the drought will kill moisture in soils,
plants, bodies, mouths
that a compass is useless
at the North Pole
that the cold gets into the bones
and one day everyone will unite to stay warm
that no one remembers
what they saw at birth
that the Moon
is a desolate place
Death
is a black-winged cloud
and descends
that in parallel to this world
there are other, narrated ones
the voice creates the invisible
and they say more words
sentences that are oblivion
distance produced
by all certainty
© 2011, Laura Chalar
From: Naturalezas
From: Naturalezas
They Say
They saythat when the Earth spins,
at different moments, cities
lie under the same sky
that there is a place
where the oceans mingle
in shades of blue
that sand landscapes crumble
to teach us the immutable beauty of the rocks
that the butterfly may be born
and die in one day
that the clouds above the sea’s horizon
point to the existence of islands
that light sparkles remain in the air
after the fluttering
that something strange happens
when the canoe touches water for the first time
that the hunter will never find his quarry
and feeds on pretenses and shades without knowing
that dead turtles’ shells
draw stone patterns
that deserts blossom
to become sand again weeks later
that birds are the first to arrive
at a new island
that the serpent’s skin changes
and remains in the mud
while the body glides
that feathers descend from the flight
to remind us that the weightless also falls
that plants have strange forms
of movement and motionlessness
that butterfly cocoons and wings
are traces of the passing time
that another jungle exists in branches
and leaf carpets
that brittle empty eggs from the last hatch
become part of the dust covering everything
that deer horns cannot be devoured
because each being leaves behind some food for the earth
that in each generation
hunters and quarries exchange places
found another jungle
that when the winds come
from the wrong direction
we shall not be able to go back home
that to each of us in our lives
ambushes are laid
until in the last one we perish
that amputated limbs hurt
and can feel the heat
that the temperature will rise
and the drought will kill moisture in soils,
plants, bodies, mouths
that a compass is useless
at the North Pole
that the cold gets into the bones
and one day everyone will unite to stay warm
that no one remembers
what they saw at birth
that the Moon
is a desolate place
Death
is a black-winged cloud
and descends
that in parallel to this world
there are other, narrated ones
the voice creates the invisible
and they say more words
sentences that are oblivion
distance produced
by all certainty
© 2011, Laura Chalar
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