BLANCA VARELA ~

 

Railing

which is the light

which the shadow

Game

within my grasp

the angel burned

Then

beyond the rose

shadow

Night

old craftswoman

see what you've made by lying

another day

Justice

along came the bird

and devoured the worm

along came the man

and devoured the bird

along came the worm

and devoured the man

Eve Leaves

animal of salt

if you turn that head

on your body

you will become

              and you will have a name

and the word

slithering

will be your footprint

Curriculum Vitae

let's say that you won the race

and that the prize

was another race

that you didn't drink champagne

but your own sweat

that you didn't hear cheering

but dogs barking

and that your own shadow

was your sole

and disloyal competitor

____________________

Blanca Varela (1926-2009)

Rough Song

translated by Carlos Lara

The Song Cave, 2020

RE-READING CESAR VALLEJO ~

The Miserable Supper





    How long will we have to wait for what is

not owed to us . . . And in what corner will

we kick our poor sponge forever! How long before

the cross that inspires us does not rest its oars.



    How long before Doubt toasts our nobility for

having suffered . . .



                                     We have already sat so

long at this table, with the bitterness of a child

who at midnight, cries from hunger, wide awake . . .



    And when will we join all the others, at the brink

of an eternal morning, everybody breakfasted.

For just how long this vale of tears, into which

I never asked to be led.



                                               Resting on my elbows,

all bathed in tears, I repeat head bowed

and defeated how much longer will this supper last.



    There's someone who has drunk too much, and he mocks us,

and offers and withdraws from us — like a black spoonful

of bitter human essence — the tomb . . .



                                                         And this abstruse one knows

even less how much longer this supper will last!





_____________________________
Cesar Vallejo
The Complete Poetry
California, 2007
translated by Clayton Eshleman


         
here we are, election day in America —

are we having a miserable supper?