Siesta
Mientras traza su curva el pez de fuego,
junto al ciprés, bajo el supremo añil,
y vuela en blanca piedra el niño ciego,
y en el olmo la copla de marfil
de la verde cigarra late y suena,
honremos al Señor
—la negra estampa de su mano buena—
que ha dictado el silencio en el clamor.
Al dios de la distancia y de la ausencia,
del áncora en el mar, la plena mar…
Él nos libra del mundo—omnipresencia—,
nos abrea senda para caminar.
Con la copa de sombra bien colmada,
con este nunca lleno corazón,
honremos al Señor que hizo la Nada
y ha esculpido en la fe nuestra razón.
High noon
Just as the scales of a leaping fish catch fire
So far from the sky's azure, and the wings of Eros
Quiver, though his eyes are blank marble,
So, too, somewhere inside that leafy elm's
Tremulous limbs is a green cicada trilling—
Though it sounds no different than a toy whistle.
Siesta time. Let us praise the Lord
Almighty, whose open palm can silence the loud
And unruly anytime he pleases, and casts a shadow
Dark as the one that extends from the cypress tree.
God of distance and God of absence, anchor
Stone that plumbs its own bottomless depth;
Path that's open for all to walk on; key
That turns on ubiquitous life, and shuts the door.
Freedom. By this glass of wine so dark it brims
Like rising nightfall, with a heart whose deepest faith
Is insatiable thirst, let us praise the Lord of Desire,
Who molded our mind as if it was good for nothing.
Translated from the Spanish by George Kalogeris and Gláucia Rezende
SIESTA
ResponderEliminarIn Memory of Abel Martin
While the fish of fire traces its curve,
near the cypress beneath the supreme blue,
and the blind child flies in the white stone,
and in the elm the ivory couplet
of the green cicada beats and returns,
let's honor the Lord
-- the black stamp of his good hand --
who has dictated the silence in the clamor.
To the god of the distance and the absence,
of the anchor in the sea, the open sea...
He frees us from the world -- omnipresence --
opening for us a path to walk on.
With the hidden cup well-filled,
with this ever-filling heart,
let's honor the Lord who has made the Void
and has sculpted in faith our reason.