SECTION ELEVEN
POETRY PAGE TWO
sm
COLUMN
FIFTY-SIX, FEBRUARY 1, 2001
(Copyright © 2001 Al Aronowitz)
(PHOTO BY JORGE ALVAREZ)
[From Colombia's celebrated poet, Raúl Henao of Medellin, here's another poem in Spanish, accompanied by its English translation, both from Raúl's La vida a la carta or Life a la carte.]
Parecía
tener treinta años
Me
paraba en una esquina y vomitaba cantidades
de arena, pañuelos bordados, relojes de bolsillo
y monedas antiguas
que
los coleccionistas se apresuraban a recoger
con la cola entre las piernas y el hocico húmedo.
Pasados
algunos días me volvía al revés como un
guante intentando ocultar mis pares de dedos.
Aquella
mañana no lograba desprenderme de la
sábana que se hacía aguas sobre la cama.
Es
una broma de malgusto estaba cansado de repetirme
pero veía a las personas dobles ##
* * *
It
seemed I was thirty years old
I
stopped at a corner and vomited heaps
of sand, embroidered handkerchiefs, pocket
watches and old coins
that
the collectors rushed to snatch up
with their tails between their legs and their clammy snouts.
A
few days later I turned inside out like a glove
trying to hide my pairs of fingers.
That
morning I couldn't manage to disentangle myself
from the sheet that was leaking on the bed.
This
is a bad joke I was tired of repeating myself
but I was seeing people in doubles ##
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX OF COLUMN FIFTY-SIX
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX
OF COLUMNS
The
Blacklisted Journalist can be contacted at P.O.Box 964, Elizabeth, NJ 07208-0964
The Blacklisted Journalist's E-Mail Address:
info@blacklistedjournalist.com
THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST IS A SERVICE MARK OF AL ARONOWITZ