Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Orietta Lozano

ABELARD AND HELOISE

He said: I am yours,
I am the son and father of us two
and I look for you among the rocks and the fish,
in the four corners
of your devotion and your wrath.
I do not forget you,
time is an unrepeatable sphinx,
the seventh hungry, wakeful eye,
the infinite look of love,
and at night we shall look at each other
in the mirror of the night,
and during the day
in the water of days.

She said: don’t give me anything,
just take from me the sign and leprosy of oblivion,
I will join you slowly, cautiously,
as when I feed the fire
with branches, species, spirals,
and I withdraw to the top of the flame
to contemplate the consumption of everything.
Treat me with the hour in which calm
survives after the raging tempest.

He said: I am yours
and in the senses
of contemplation and of the flesh,
I shall surely give you my small sapphire Christ,
a trifle and the first tree on Earth,
a void
and the language spoken
by those who lose the sense of time.
Let me see the sunset
through your look,
that petrifies, that fixes,
that does not remember.

She said: do not give me anything,
just forget me,
because in oblivion
is the essence of memory,
of the beginning,
in your oblivion you come near to me,
you encroach upon me and defeat me
and vanquished at last
I penetrate, untouchable, softly
in the darkest crack
you light for me.
Trembling and devoid of haste
come back and touch the wound of my rain
with the tips of your fingers,
and do try not to come
with the painful apparel of guilt,
with the original tattoo of the sentence,
do not leave and come soon
like the wind softly galloping
on the back of the waters.
Mix me in the water of your God
draw it and drink it and retain it forever
at the time of your thirst.

He said: I am the father of the son you’ve never seen,
I am the son in the bowels of the Earth
and after possessing nothing and being lost
I am the fugitive, your eternal friend.
That you be saved, my eternal friend
from the overflowing water in the sea of your affliction;
you forever the most unknown,
and new in my memory.

She said: let nothing save me,
except the thorn of pain
already trembling and always
in the thorn of my back,
except the pain where the alchemy
of my longing lies.
Become one with the father and the son,
become one with God,
and, omnipresent, being in your abode,
present yourself in my dwelling.
Sit at the table and drink of my wine
and sometime, drunk, tear up the tremor
of your flesh in the crossroads of my body.

He said: I will join you slowly,
you deranged girl,
taking in my words the prayer of foolishness,
and like before and now and already forever
I tremble in the crossroads of your flesh.
Being with them I am with you
and like water and oil
my thought is divided;
and after touching and seizing you
there will not be another, no other
anointed in my memory.

She said: hurry for my body does not hold out,
and even though I usually smell the ointment of the anointed one
innocence is not enough for me
nor the ascent of your desire
toward the arch of the skies.

ELOÍSA Y ABELARDO

ELOÍSA Y ABELARDO

El dijo: soy de ti,
soy hijo y padre de nosotros
y te busco entre las rocas y los peces,
en los cuatro costados
de tu devoción y de tu ira.
No te olvido,
el tiempo es una esfinge irrepetible,
el séptimo ojo hambriento y en vigilia,
la infinita mirada del amor,
y en la noche hemos de mirarnos
en el espejo de la noche,
y en el día
en el agua de los días.

Ella dijo: No me des nada,
solo quítame la seña y la lepra del olvido,
voy por ti despacio, prevenida,
como cuando al fuego lo alimento
de ramas, de especies, de espirales
y me retiro a lo alto de la llama
a contemplar que todo se consuma.
Regálame la hora en que sobrevive
la calma después de la tempestad furiosa.

El dijo: soy de ti,
y entre los sentidos
de la contemplación y de la carne,
te he de dar mi pequeño cristo de zafiros,
una nada y el primer árbol de la tierra,
un vacío,
y la lengua que hablan
los que pierden la noción del tiempo.
Déjame ver el crepúsculo
a través de tu mirada,
la que petrifica, la que fija,
la que no recuerda.

Ella dijo: no me des nada,
solo olvídame,
porque en el olvido
está la esencia del recuerdo,
del inicio,
en tu olvido te aproximas,
me usurpas y me vences
y al final vencida
penetro intocable y dulcemente
en la fisura más oscura
que para mí iluminas.
Tembloroso y sin premura
con las yemas de tus dedos,
vuelve y toca la herida de mi lluvia
y procura no venir
con la vestidura dolorosa de la culpa
con el tatuaje original de la condena,
no me dejes y ven pronto,
como el viento que galopa
suave en el lomo de las aguas.
Mézclame en el agua de tu Dios
y extráela y bébela y retenla por siempre
en la hora de tu sed.

El dijo: Soy el padre de tu hijo nunca visto,
soy el hijo en las entrañas de tu tierra
y después de nada poseer y estar perdido
soy el prófugo, tu amigo eterno.
Salven a ti, mi eterna amiga
del agua desbocada en el mar de tu aflicción;
tú por siempre la más desconocida
y nueva en mi memoria.

Ella dijo: que no me salve nada,
salvo la espina del dolor
que tiembla ya y desde siempre
en la espina de mi espalda,
salvo el dolor donde yace
la alquimia de mi ansia.
Hazte uno con el padre y con el hijo,
hazte uno con Dios
y omnipresente, estando en tu morada,
hazte presente en mi morada.
Siéntate a la mesa y bebe de mi vino
y alguna vez ebrio, desgarra el temblor
de tu carne en la encrucijada de mi cuerpo.

El dijo: voy por ti despacio,
muchacha desquiciada
llevando en mi verbo la oración del desatino
y como antes y ahora y ya por siempre,
tiemblo en la encrucijada de tu carne.
Estando con el estoy contigo
y como el agua y el aceite
mi pensamiento se divide;
y después de tocarte y usurparte
no habrá otra, ni ninguna otra
ungida en mi memoria.

Ella dijo: date prisa que mi cuerpo no resiste,
y aunque suelo oler el ungüento del ungido,
no me basta la inocencia
ni la ascensión de tu deseo
hacia el arco de los cielos.
Close

ABELARD AND HELOISE

He said: I am yours,
I am the son and father of us two
and I look for you among the rocks and the fish,
in the four corners
of your devotion and your wrath.
I do not forget you,
time is an unrepeatable sphinx,
the seventh hungry, wakeful eye,
the infinite look of love,
and at night we shall look at each other
in the mirror of the night,
and during the day
in the water of days.

She said: don’t give me anything,
just take from me the sign and leprosy of oblivion,
I will join you slowly, cautiously,
as when I feed the fire
with branches, species, spirals,
and I withdraw to the top of the flame
to contemplate the consumption of everything.
Treat me with the hour in which calm
survives after the raging tempest.

He said: I am yours
and in the senses
of contemplation and of the flesh,
I shall surely give you my small sapphire Christ,
a trifle and the first tree on Earth,
a void
and the language spoken
by those who lose the sense of time.
Let me see the sunset
through your look,
that petrifies, that fixes,
that does not remember.

She said: do not give me anything,
just forget me,
because in oblivion
is the essence of memory,
of the beginning,
in your oblivion you come near to me,
you encroach upon me and defeat me
and vanquished at last
I penetrate, untouchable, softly
in the darkest crack
you light for me.
Trembling and devoid of haste
come back and touch the wound of my rain
with the tips of your fingers,
and do try not to come
with the painful apparel of guilt,
with the original tattoo of the sentence,
do not leave and come soon
like the wind softly galloping
on the back of the waters.
Mix me in the water of your God
draw it and drink it and retain it forever
at the time of your thirst.

He said: I am the father of the son you’ve never seen,
I am the son in the bowels of the Earth
and after possessing nothing and being lost
I am the fugitive, your eternal friend.
That you be saved, my eternal friend
from the overflowing water in the sea of your affliction;
you forever the most unknown,
and new in my memory.

She said: let nothing save me,
except the thorn of pain
already trembling and always
in the thorn of my back,
except the pain where the alchemy
of my longing lies.
Become one with the father and the son,
become one with God,
and, omnipresent, being in your abode,
present yourself in my dwelling.
Sit at the table and drink of my wine
and sometime, drunk, tear up the tremor
of your flesh in the crossroads of my body.

He said: I will join you slowly,
you deranged girl,
taking in my words the prayer of foolishness,
and like before and now and already forever
I tremble in the crossroads of your flesh.
Being with them I am with you
and like water and oil
my thought is divided;
and after touching and seizing you
there will not be another, no other
anointed in my memory.

She said: hurry for my body does not hold out,
and even though I usually smell the ointment of the anointed one
innocence is not enough for me
nor the ascent of your desire
toward the arch of the skies.

ABELARD AND HELOISE

He said: I am yours,
I am the son and father of us two
and I look for you among the rocks and the fish,
in the four corners
of your devotion and your wrath.
I do not forget you,
time is an unrepeatable sphinx,
the seventh hungry, wakeful eye,
the infinite look of love,
and at night we shall look at each other
in the mirror of the night,
and during the day
in the water of days.

She said: don’t give me anything,
just take from me the sign and leprosy of oblivion,
I will join you slowly, cautiously,
as when I feed the fire
with branches, species, spirals,
and I withdraw to the top of the flame
to contemplate the consumption of everything.
Treat me with the hour in which calm
survives after the raging tempest.

He said: I am yours
and in the senses
of contemplation and of the flesh,
I shall surely give you my small sapphire Christ,
a trifle and the first tree on Earth,
a void
and the language spoken
by those who lose the sense of time.
Let me see the sunset
through your look,
that petrifies, that fixes,
that does not remember.

She said: do not give me anything,
just forget me,
because in oblivion
is the essence of memory,
of the beginning,
in your oblivion you come near to me,
you encroach upon me and defeat me
and vanquished at last
I penetrate, untouchable, softly
in the darkest crack
you light for me.
Trembling and devoid of haste
come back and touch the wound of my rain
with the tips of your fingers,
and do try not to come
with the painful apparel of guilt,
with the original tattoo of the sentence,
do not leave and come soon
like the wind softly galloping
on the back of the waters.
Mix me in the water of your God
draw it and drink it and retain it forever
at the time of your thirst.

He said: I am the father of the son you’ve never seen,
I am the son in the bowels of the Earth
and after possessing nothing and being lost
I am the fugitive, your eternal friend.
That you be saved, my eternal friend
from the overflowing water in the sea of your affliction;
you forever the most unknown,
and new in my memory.

She said: let nothing save me,
except the thorn of pain
already trembling and always
in the thorn of my back,
except the pain where the alchemy
of my longing lies.
Become one with the father and the son,
become one with God,
and, omnipresent, being in your abode,
present yourself in my dwelling.
Sit at the table and drink of my wine
and sometime, drunk, tear up the tremor
of your flesh in the crossroads of my body.

He said: I will join you slowly,
you deranged girl,
taking in my words the prayer of foolishness,
and like before and now and already forever
I tremble in the crossroads of your flesh.
Being with them I am with you
and like water and oil
my thought is divided;
and after touching and seizing you
there will not be another, no other
anointed in my memory.

She said: hurry for my body does not hold out,
and even though I usually smell the ointment of the anointed one
innocence is not enough for me
nor the ascent of your desire
toward the arch of the skies.
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