Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Sara Uribe

"A broken glass. Something that no longer is"

A broken glass. Something that no longer is, that no
longer exists. That is found in unidentified whereabouts,
with no idea whether still alive. With no idea.

I was left thinking about the verb to disappear. They
said: Tadeo hasn’t appeared and I thought of the
magician who would come to our elementary school.
Of Tadeo sneaking behind the lattice to watch because
our mother couldn’t come up with the five pesos for the
show. For me, disappearing was always an illusionist
act. Someone made something disappear and then
made it appear again.

A simple act.

"Een gebroken glas. Iets wat niet meer is"

Een gebroken glas. Iets wat niet meer is, wat niet meer bestaat.
Wat zich bevindt op een onbekende verblijfplaats,
niemand weet of het nog leeft.
Niemand weet het.

Ik dacht aan het werkwoord verdwijnen. Zij zeiden:
Tadeo is niet verschenen en ik dacht aan de tovenaar
die onze basisschool bezocht. Aan Tadeo die achter
de celosia zat te gluren omdat onze moeder te krap zat
om ons de vijf peso voor de voorstelling te geven.
Verdwijnen was voor mij altijd een goochelaarsact.
Iemand liet iets verdwijnen en daarna
liet hij het weer verschijnen.

Een eenvoudige act.

Un vaso roto. Algo que ya no está, que ya no existe.
Que se halla en paradero ignorado, sin que se sepa
si vive. Sin que se sepa.

Yo me quedé pensando en el verbo desaparecer.
Ellos dijeron: Tadeo no aparece y yo pensé en el
mago          que iba a nuestra primaria. En Tadeo
tras la celosía mirando a hurtadillas porque a
nuestra madre no le alcanzaba para darnos los cinco
pesos de la función. Desaparecer siempre fue para
mí un acto de prestidigitadores. Alguien desaparecía
algo y luego lo volvía a aparecer.

Un acto simple.

Close

"A broken glass. Something that no longer is"

A broken glass. Something that no longer is, that no
longer exists. That is found in unidentified whereabouts,
with no idea whether still alive. With no idea.

I was left thinking about the verb to disappear. They
said: Tadeo hasn’t appeared and I thought of the
magician who would come to our elementary school.
Of Tadeo sneaking behind the lattice to watch because
our mother couldn’t come up with the five pesos for the
show. For me, disappearing was always an illusionist
act. Someone made something disappear and then
made it appear again.

A simple act.

"A broken glass. Something that no longer is"

A broken glass. Something that no longer is, that no
longer exists. That is found in unidentified whereabouts,
with no idea whether still alive. With no idea.

I was left thinking about the verb to disappear. They
said: Tadeo hasn’t appeared and I thought of the
magician who would come to our elementary school.
Of Tadeo sneaking behind the lattice to watch because
our mother couldn’t come up with the five pesos for the
show. For me, disappearing was always an illusionist
act. Someone made something disappear and then
made it appear again.

A simple act.

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère