Those were the days - tupeloquarterly.com · Those were the days Those were the days on this earth...

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Those were the days Those were the days on this earth our days when we were as tiny as dream shadows is it true that we lived on the edge of things without ever discovering them is it true that the afternoons clustered together sweetly on the threshold of the house? And that there were dates set for smiling, for weeping and I was never there because it was always late, because it was always yesterday. Estos fueron los días Estos fueron los días sobre la tierra nuestros días cuando éramos tan pequeños como sombras de sueños ¿es cierto que vivíamos al borde de las cosas sin jamás descubrirlas y que las tardes se arracimaban dulces en el umbral de casa? Y que había fechas para sonreír, para llorar y yo no estaba nunca porque siempre era tarde, porque siempre era ayer.

Transcript of Those were the days - tupeloquarterly.com · Those were the days Those were the days on this earth...

Page 1: Those were the days - tupeloquarterly.com · Those were the days Those were the days on this earth our days when we were as tiny as dream shadows is it true that we lived on the edge

Those were the days Those were the days on this earth our days when we were as tiny as dream shadows is it true that we lived on the edge of things without ever discovering them is it true that the afternoons clustered together sweetly on the threshold of the house? And that there were dates set for smiling, for weeping and I was never there because it was always late, because it was always yesterday. Estos fueron los días Estos fueron los días sobre la tierra nuestros días cuando éramos tan pequeños como sombras de sueños ¿es cierto que vivíamos al borde de las cosas sin jamás descubrirlas y que las tardes se arracimaban dulces en el umbral de casa? Y que había fechas para sonreír, para llorar y yo no estaba nunca porque siempre era tarde, porque siempre era ayer.

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I'm no longer part of this life I'm no longer part of this life but the world can still unleash itself on me I carry a sleeping death in its last three knells, and so I can foresee it all I know this night will never reach the dawn they will ask me about the earth and I will respond that the earth is pain and suffering I grew from the ground to god wrapped in calendars that covered my nakedness and my death was the newborn that everyone waited for a death filled with little echoes reverberating from the paintings of the far, distant sea. Ya no estoy en la vida Ya no estoy en la vida pero puede desencadenarse el mundo sobre mí llevo una muerte dormida en las tres últimas campanadas por eso puedo presentirlo todo sé que la noche nunca llegará al alba me preguntarán por la tierra y les responderé: la tierra es la congoja y la llaga yo crecía desde la hierba hacia dios envuelta en calendarios que cubrían mi desnudez y mi muerte era la recién nacida que todos aguardaban era una muerte llena de pequeñas resonancias que venían de los cuadros, del lejanísimo mar.

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A poem They’ve achieved their end now they throw shovels full of dirt over the dead unaware that they’re planting monsters locking away malignant habits what do I write for? for no one nothing that’s probably why I enjoy writing no one lives behind the gardens I held a magnolia in my hand inside a portrait not of me, but of my mother and all the deaths that came before me and it was a necklace of shining gems that were speaking a language that only I could understand night fell the gems rolled their voices filled the air with magic mirrors they cried, the men and women who would arrive one day they cried, they didn’t want to be born someone should convince them row through memory stigmatize their fear someone should come and disappear and wake me up with a shout that knows it all a poem has neither beginning nor end a poem doesn’t exist, it’s written and falls as if from an impossible sky I look at it and rip it in pieces leave bite marks furiously I tear off my own head they say I was there at the guillotine tomorrow I was also there my lovers are so secret that they'll die without knowing the door of my house burns the portraits are not mine blood clots up life was a grove of orange trees, a loan, and then it disappeared. Un poema Han logrado su fin ahora echan paladas de tierra sobre los muertos sin saber que están plantando monstruos

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encerrando hábitos maléficos para qué escribo yo? para nadie para nada será por eso que me gusta escribir nadie vive detrás de los jardines yo sostuve una magnolia en la mano dentro de un retrato que no era yo era mi madre a todas las muertes que me precedieron y era un collar de piedras brillantes que hablaban un idioma que yo sola entendía llegó la noche las piedras rodaron sus voces llenaban el aire de espejos mágicos lloraban los hombres y mujeres que algún día llegarían lloraban no querían nacer alguien debe convencerlos bogar por la memoria estigmatizar el miedo alguien puede llegar y desaparecer y despertarme con mi grito que todo lo sabe un poema no tiene principio ni fin un poema no existe está escrito y cae como de un cielo imposible lo miro y lo recojo a pedazos a dentelladas furiosamente me arranco la cabeza dicen que en la guillotina yo estuve allí. también mañana estuve mis amantes son tan secretos que van a morir sin saberlo la puerta de mi casa arde allí los retratos no son míos la sangre se coagula era un huerto de naranjos un préstamo la vida y desapareció.

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Color existed there Color and hibiscus existed there they awakened full and free and the nights the nights filled with howling with shattering screams awakened us, anxious, terrible we forgot about our life in the capsule we forgot we were ever in a capsule it’s lovely to be alone in any case it’s lovely to be alive to breathe how was it? The fireflies lived beneath our skin and the spiders were always looking at us the frogs shared our table but it wasn’t possible paradise is like this it shines and hurts so we came back strangers the animals murdered each other in the feast of love teeth fell, mysterious punishments in the middle of the night I got up trying to convince him he wasn’t dead I mean he felt dead he held his head between his two hands in this way hours went by sometimes I woke up sometimes in the exhaustion of the fight I ended up changing into a ferocious animal I broke the walls I crept I always ended up losing one of my heads I write this because I’m ashamed that now in this moment a dog dreams and I don’t hear him a giant tree falls and I don’t see it strange relatives martyr a dead man and I don’t know about it I mean I know they’ve killed him in the forest taking advantage of the wind and darkness

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the road to the beach is filled with nettles we used to go to the sea but the reptiles came this house is a shipwreck it’s empty I heard an old log singing I can’t call you on the phone because you’ve died I don’t know how to explain it to you because this is how you were first all green and then you smelled like devastation my beloved enemy Allí existía el color Allí existía el color y los hibiscos amanecían enteros libres y las noches las noches llenas de aullidos de desgarrantes gritos nos despertaban ansiosos terribles olvidamos nuestra vida en la cápsula que estábamos en una cápsula es hermoso estar solo sin embargo es hermoso estar vivo y respirar cómo era? las luciérnagas vivían bajo nuestra piel y las arañas nos miraban siempre las ranas compartían nuestra mesa pero no era posible el paraíso es así fulgura y duele entonces nos volvimos extraños los animales se asesinaban unos a otros en la fiesta del amor caían dientes y asombrosos castigos a media noche me levantaba tratando de convencerle de que no estaba muerto digo él se sentía muerto y apretaba con sus dos manos la cabeza así pasaban horas y veces amanecía

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a veces en la extenuación de la lucha yo terminaba por convertirme en un animal feroz destruía las paredes reptaba iba perdiendo alguna de mis cabezas escribo esto porque me da pena que ahora en este instante un perro sueña y no lo oigo un árbol gigantesco cae y no lo veo extraños deudos martirizan a un muerto y no lo sé es decir sé que le han matado en el bosque aprovechando el viento y la oscuridad el camino hasta la playa está lleno de ortigas antes íbamos al mar pero llegaron los reptiles la casa es un naufragio está vacía yo escuché cantar un leño no te puedo llamar por teléfono porque has muerto no sé como explicártelo porque te pusiste así primero todo verde después olías a desolación mi amado enemigo

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The missiles take aim at my heart The missiles take aim at my heart the door was shut the wind remained alone now no one can get it back no one where are the ones who kill the murderers are candies in my hand and my womb is a battleground I don't know the ones who love me, and they don't know me they tore me from a sword's womb the night was shining the sun is sad and hurts it's wonderful to be alive it's wonderful to be dead the branches the stars are burning my heart was burning this is paradise it shines and hurts you let's run away you will knock on my window with a yellow leaf and I'll get up naked if you know I'm crazy wake me up kill me quickly I don't know who I am I don't exist but I always wake up surprised as if from some hidden place I learned spelling too late the colors all the light went away I didn't want to learn to read and write I didn't want anything they dragged me grabbed me by the hair beat me the teachers institutions states now the missiles take their aim now my eyes fall out I ripple through the world like an explosion

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because my loves are like the wind because this is a precious forest where murders also take place the missiles take aim at my heart disasters fall upon us I feel a cosmic anguish our bones exposed spin along with the earth I embrace this planet I collapse We chase mammoths we chase the moon we are never calm all of us in light and death are the same the gods know it well the statues the horrible mistake of inhabiting just one body ah! thank God it's already Sunday we'll resurrect again I won't go back to school this time I won't study law like in 1960 it was, it will be different in the time of justice I think of a dark sea bestial flowers maybe they'll be saved from perversity beloved animals fledgling caterpillars the flies gnaw at our insides the cows' starry flesh is blue and returns to life the spiders will not forgive us nor the monkeys we devour alive I held the fasting man in my womb and I was ashamed to eat because we eat and poison the sea and the ants come christ finish it simply stop my skeleton come buddha entrails of murdered children frightened children the child I was violated nearly murdered

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in a stairwell then I saw beautiful things and cried out: I was dying and it was beautiful my father got scared stars were falling I was falling holocaust the swords made fear hurry toward whom directly are those missiles aiming this threat to life to whom this rage to whom but me. Los misiles apuntan a mi corazón Los misiles apuntan a mi corazón la puerta se cerró el viento quedó solo ahora quien puede recuperarle nadie dónde están los que matan los asesinos son dulces en mis manos y mi vientre es un campo de batalla no conozco a los que me aman y ellos no me conocen me arrancaron de un vientre de una espada la noche fulguraba el sol es triste y duele es maravilloso estar vivo es maravilloso estar muerto arden las ramas las estrellas mi corazón ardía el paraíso es así fulgura y duele huyamos tocarás mi ventana con una hoja amarilla y me levantaré desnuda si sabes mi locura despiértame de prisa mátame no sé quién soy no existo pero amanezco siempre sorprendida

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como de haber estado en algún sitio oculto aprendí a deletrear tardíamente los colores y la luz toda fue yo quería aprender a leer a escribir yo no quería nada me arrastraron me sujetaron del pelo me golpearon los maestros las instituciones los estados ahora los misiles la optan ahora se me caen los ojos voy por el mundo como estallido porque mis amores se asemejan al viento porque este es un bosque precioso donde también suceden asesinatos los misiles apuntan a mi corazón nos suceden catástrofes siento una angustia cósmica nuestros huesos al aire girando con la tierra me abrazo a este planeta me derrumbo perseguimos mamuts perseguimos la luna no estamos quietos nunca todos en la luz y en la muerte somos contemporáneos bien lo saben los dioses las estatuas el desatino atroz de vivir en un cuerpo solo ah! qué bien que ya es domingo resucitamos otra vez no volveré a la escuela esta vez no estudiaré leyes como en 1960 fue será distinto en el tiempo de justicia pienso en un mar oscuro en bestias flores acaso ellos se salven de la perversidad animales queridos orugas incipientes las moscas roen nuestras entrañas la carne constelada de las vacas es azul

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y renace las arañas no nos perdonarán ni los monos que devoramos vivos al hombre que ayuna tuve en mi vientre y me dio vergüenza comer porque nosotros comemos y envenenamos el mar y las hormigas cristo ven termina simplemente cesa mi esqueleto buda ven entrañas de los niños asesinados de los niños asustados de la niña que fui vulnerada asesinada casi en una escalera entonces vi cosas hermosas y grité: moría y era hermoso mi padre se asustó caían estrellas yo caía holocausto las espadas apuraron el miedo a quiénes apuntan directamente estos misiles este reto a la vida a quiénes esta furia a quiénes sino a mí

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I don't know who sends me dreams To Rafael I don't know who sends me dreams but I have them dreams of love dreams of death sending a death rattle during the day and shaking me in the night he is sending me dreams I don't know why he punishes me with love madness and leaves me looking up at the ceiling day and night looking up at the heavens you told me angels are falling you knew my dreams – and I didn't you knew my body – and I didn't the tips of my fingernails the poppies climb up your legs and burst out from your blue eyes you were like that once before because of the heart attack because of life your heart became silent and your mouth that fear our flesh our home shaking us tremendously people visit this earth I know it's terrible we will be fire we will be water fire and water will be made from our flesh my first memory is of a blue vase and a voice your voice I wait stubbornly as if doing a hard task each day I awaken from this dream when you'll wake up like when you woke and ran with closed eyes

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until they gave us light oh, those harsh blows they contained you with it life will fly away from those blows the secret birds the abysses nothing but those blows will remain. No sé quién me envía sueños A Rafael No sé quién me envía sueños pero los tengo sueños de amor sueños de muerte de día un estertor de noche me sacuden él me envía sueños no sé por qué me castiga con el amor la locura tengo que estar así mirando el cielo día y noche mirando el cielo me decías caen ángeles sabías mi sueño y yo no sabías mi cuerpo y yo no los límites de mis uñas las amapolas suben por tus pies y estallan en tus ojos azules como entonces te quedabas así a causa del infarto a causa de la vida tu corazón se puso en silencio y tu boca el miedo aquel nuestra carne nuestra casa sacudiéndonos con tremendas cosas la gente visita la tierra sé que es terrible seremos fuego seremos agua

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harán de nuestra carne fuego y agua mi primer recuerdo es un jarrón azul y una voz tu voz duramente espero como en duro trabajo cada día despierto de mi sueño cuando despiertes tú como cuando despertabas con los ojos cerrados y corriás hasta que nos daban la luz ay esos golpes con que te guardaron con esos golpes volará la vida los pájaros secretos los abismos más que esos golpes nada quedará.

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I Lived in this World The system collapsed the world explodes at the end blood alone paradise schizophrenia climbs up through its foliage there's a garden in my legs my womb is as deep and immense as rain my womb is a catacomb where sun and earth meet and like old pals we give each other a final farewell such is this void where it's never certain I was thrown from the heights of a cloud a tortured cloud ghosts were my lovers with each death I die with each day I'm reborn I don't contradict but do contra-think the world explodes I lived in hell hypnotized I looked on while technology bulldozed gardens I remember the massacres the smoke the unease the worry the fear at one time man was bread's friend something was floating in the dawns there was a mother water lived alongside precious stones to know nothing we destroy others and destroy ourselves we bury the dead eat and sleep no one inhabits another's soul of anyone else what are we? just one immense mouth devouring everything devouring ourselves but don't interrogate me I'll never be able to tell you what it means to live how beautiful

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how unique how excruciating it is to live nor can I tell you why love and suffering were the same. Yo Viví en este Mundo El sistema cayó el mundo estalla al fin la sangre sola el paraíso la esquizofrenia sube en un ramaje en mis piernas hay un jardín mi vientre es hondo y profundo como la lluvia mi vientre es una catacumba donde el sol y la tierra se descubren y como viejos camaradas nos despedimos para siempre así ese vacío donde nunca es cierto fui arrojada de lo alto de una nube torturada fantasmas fueron mis amantes con cada muerte muero con cada día renazco no contradigo pero contra-pienso el mundo estalla yo viví en el infierno ví cómo la tecnología arrasaba jardines hipnotizada recuerdo las masacres el humo el desasosiego la desazón el miedo en un tiempo el hombre era amigo del pan algo flotaba en los amaneceres había madre el agua convivía con las piedras preciosas no saber nada destrozamos y nos destrozamos enterramos los muertos comemos y dormimos nadie vive en el alma de nadie

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qué somos? sólo una boca inmensa devorándolo todo devorándonos pero no me interrogues jamás podré decirte lo que es vivir lo hermoso lo único lo lacerante que es vivir ni por qué amar y sufrir fue lo mismo.

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The Disappeared One No hug can reach far enough No new moon Can flee No fragile silver moon Can flee suffering Because it dwells in memory Whoever is writing to me speaks so strangely Flying around the world God told me everything in a letter There's an invisible thread that ties things together So here's the secret Wherever the disappeared one is So am I. El Desaparecido No hay abrazo que alcance No hay luna nueva Que pueda huir Frágil luna de plata Que pueda huir del sufrir Porque éste reside en la memoria Quien me escribe me habla tan misteriosamente Sobrevolando el mundo Dios me dijo todo en una carta Hay un hilo invisible que ata las cosas Y resulta un secreto Donde está el desaparecido Estoy yo.

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Biography of an Archangel We cannot stay We have to flee But who can explain this Who can stand the weight of nothingness Cut by the frantic noise Of vehicles in the street Who can stand getting up To find the dream is real The firefly is real I can't do it I've been waiting for centuries And I embrace the wind as well as the shadows. Biografía de un Arcángel No nos podemos quedar Tenemos que huir Mas quién explica esto Quien soporta el peso de la nada Cortada por elruido frenético De los vehículos en la calle Quién soporta levantarse Y sentir que es verdad el sueño Y la luciérnaga No puedo Hace siglos que espero Y abrazo tal el viento a las sombras.

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I am I am everything I see Everything I look at Tree river man Planetary distance What secret machine Dwells in the flower The murderess Who went unpunished Always The dinosaur's tooth Discovered beneath a storm Of snow and fire The man howling in the bonfire The one who disappeared And the one who made him disappear. Soy Soy todo lo que veo Lo que miro Árbol río hombre Distancia planetaria Qué engranajesecreto Habita la flor La mujer homicida Que quedó impune Siempre El diente del dinosaurio Descubierto bajo una tormenta De nieve y fuego El hombre aullando en una hoguera El desaparecido Y el que lo hizo desaparecer.