Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Giovanni Quessep

Diamond

If I could give you  
The light that isn’t seen
in a  deep blue
of fish. If  I could  
give you an apple  
without the paradise lost ,  
a sunflower with no petals
and no compass of light  
that will rose, drunk,  
into the evening’s  sky;  
and this page in white  
that you could read  
as the clearest hieroglyphic is read.
If I could give you, as  
it is sung in beautiful verses,  
some  wings with no bird,  
always a  flight with no wings,  
my writing would be,  
maybe as the diamond,
stone of light without flame,  
perpetual paradise.

Diamante

Diamante

Si pudiera yo darte
la luz que no se ve
en un azul profundo
de peces. Si pudiera
darte una manzana
sin el edén perdido,
un girasol sin pétalos
ni brújula de luz
que se elevara, ebrio,
al cielo de la tarde;
y esta página en blanco
que pudieras leer
como se lee el más claro
jeroglífico. Si
pudiera darte, como
se canta en bellos versos,
unas alas sin pájaro,
siempre un vuelo sin alas,
mi escritura sería,
quizá como el diamante,
piedra de luz sin llama,
paraíso perpetuo.
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Diamond

If I could give you  
The light that isn’t seen
in a  deep blue
of fish. If  I could  
give you an apple  
without the paradise lost ,  
a sunflower with no petals
and no compass of light  
that will rose, drunk,  
into the evening’s  sky;  
and this page in white  
that you could read  
as the clearest hieroglyphic is read.
If I could give you, as  
it is sung in beautiful verses,  
some  wings with no bird,  
always a  flight with no wings,  
my writing would be,  
maybe as the diamond,
stone of light without flame,  
perpetual paradise.

Diamond

If I could give you  
The light that isn’t seen
in a  deep blue
of fish. If  I could  
give you an apple  
without the paradise lost ,  
a sunflower with no petals
and no compass of light  
that will rose, drunk,  
into the evening’s  sky;  
and this page in white  
that you could read  
as the clearest hieroglyphic is read.
If I could give you, as  
it is sung in beautiful verses,  
some  wings with no bird,  
always a  flight with no wings,  
my writing would be,  
maybe as the diamond,
stone of light without flame,  
perpetual paradise.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère