Poem
Vito Apüshana (Miguel Ángel López)
MALUAYAN
On the way to Maluayan fear caught up with us . . .we received it: it was all silence, invisible,
and it smelled of smoked calabash.
It embraced us unawares
and made us piss under the Mapuua tree.
Then came the dream, and the voices of the dead spoke to us about finding the footprints
of the first wayfarers on earth in the sweaty steps of today;
they spoke to us about listening to the soft music enclosed
in the complaints we muttered on the path.
Since then we see fear in each curve,
taking leave of us . . . abandoning us to our fate.
© Translation: 2008, Nicolás Suescún
MALUAYAN
MALUAYAN
Camino a Maluayan nos alcanzó el miedo . . .lo recibimos: era todo silencio, invisible
y con olor a totumo ahumado.
Nos abrazó sin darnos cuenta
y nos puso a orinar bajo un árbol Mapuua.
Luego vino el sueño y las voces de los muertos nos hablaron de encontrar las huellas
de los primeros caminantes de la Tierra . . . en los pasos sudorosos de hoy;
nos hablaron de escuchar la leve música contenida
en las quejas que soltamos en el sendero.
Desde entonces vemos al miedo, en cada curva,
despidiéndonos . . . abandonándonos a nuestra suerte.
© 2001, Vito Apüshana
From: Encuentros en los senderos de Abya Yala
Publisher: Casa de las Americas, La Habana
This poem was originally written in Wayuu and was then translated into Spanish.
From: Encuentros en los senderos de Abya Yala
Publisher: Casa de las Americas, La Habana
Poems
Poems of Vito Apüshana (Miguel Ángel López)
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MALUAYAN
On the way to Maluayan fear caught up with us . . .we received it: it was all silence, invisible,
and it smelled of smoked calabash.
It embraced us unawares
and made us piss under the Mapuua tree.
Then came the dream, and the voices of the dead spoke to us about finding the footprints
of the first wayfarers on earth in the sweaty steps of today;
they spoke to us about listening to the soft music enclosed
in the complaints we muttered on the path.
Since then we see fear in each curve,
taking leave of us . . . abandoning us to our fate.
© 2008, Nicolás Suescún
From: Encuentros en los senderos de Abya Yala
This poem was originally written in Wayuu and was then translated into Spanish.
From: Encuentros en los senderos de Abya Yala
MALUAYAN
On the way to Maluayan fear caught up with us . . .we received it: it was all silence, invisible,
and it smelled of smoked calabash.
It embraced us unawares
and made us piss under the Mapuua tree.
Then came the dream, and the voices of the dead spoke to us about finding the footprints
of the first wayfarers on earth in the sweaty steps of today;
they spoke to us about listening to the soft music enclosed
in the complaints we muttered on the path.
Since then we see fear in each curve,
taking leave of us . . . abandoning us to our fate.
© 2008, Nicolás Suescún
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