The Angel of Sand
Seriously, in your eyes the sea was two children spying on me,
afraid of knots and harsh words.
Two children of the night, terrible, expelled from heaven,
whose childhood was a robbery of ships and a crime of suns and moons.
Sleep now. Close your eyes.
I saw that the true sea was a boy who jumped naked,
inviting me to a plate of stars and a bed of algae.
Yes, yes! My life would be, already was, a detached coast.
But you, waking, drowned me in your eyes.
Living Snow
Without lying, tell me what lie of snow walked mute through my dream!
Voiceless snow, with blue eyes perhaps, slow and with hair.
When did the snow, looking distracted, push coils of fire?
It walked mute, whitewashing the unanswered questions,
the forgotten and crossed out sepulchers, to launch new memories.
Giving to ashes, already airborne, the shape of boneless light.
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Rafael Alberti
Concerning the Angels
translated from the Spanish by John Murillo
Four Way Books, 2025
