Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Lauren Mendinueta

SHADOW AMONG SHADOWS

Just like a firebird
Your wings let fall
A deep shadow.
I saw you blacken
As if the night ashes
Covered you too thickly.
And your shadow a melody of blood
Soaked my bones.
And your eyes
Asphalt mirrors
Carved statues of water.
And your hands
Columns of seaweed
Shook the seas.
Me
A frightened ghost
Hiding myself.
I dreaded looking at your eyes
I knew they held oracles.
Four and one nights went by.
Your shadow turned white
Like your tongue.
I found out you would go away.
I tried to see your eyes
An endless sequence
Of unknown faces.
Then I understood
That one night falls
With the weight of all the centuries
And that all the centuries
Weigh upon man
Like a shadow weighs upon a body.

SOMBRA EN SOMBRAS

SOMBRA EN SOMBRAS

Igual que un pájaro de fuego
Tus alas dejaban caer
Una profunda sombra.
Te vi oscurecer
Como si las cenizas de la noche
Te cubrieran demasiado.
Y tu sombra melodía de sangre
Me empapaba los huesos.
Y tus ojos
Espejos de asfalto
Tallaban estatuas de agua.
Y tus manos
Columnas de algas
Estremecían los mares.
Yo
Fantasma temeroso
Me ocultaba.
Temía mirar tus ojos
Sabía que eran oráculos.
Pasaron cuatro y una noches.
Tu sombra se volvió blanca
Como tu lengua.
Supe que te irías.
Busqué mirar tus ojos
Secuencia interminable
De rostros desconocidos.
Entendí entonces
Que una noche cae
Con el peso de todos los siglos
Y que todos los siglos
Pesan al hombre
Como pesa la sombra al cuerpo.
Close

SHADOW AMONG SHADOWS

Just like a firebird
Your wings let fall
A deep shadow.
I saw you blacken
As if the night ashes
Covered you too thickly.
And your shadow a melody of blood
Soaked my bones.
And your eyes
Asphalt mirrors
Carved statues of water.
And your hands
Columns of seaweed
Shook the seas.
Me
A frightened ghost
Hiding myself.
I dreaded looking at your eyes
I knew they held oracles.
Four and one nights went by.
Your shadow turned white
Like your tongue.
I found out you would go away.
I tried to see your eyes
An endless sequence
Of unknown faces.
Then I understood
That one night falls
With the weight of all the centuries
And that all the centuries
Weigh upon man
Like a shadow weighs upon a body.

SHADOW AMONG SHADOWS

Just like a firebird
Your wings let fall
A deep shadow.
I saw you blacken
As if the night ashes
Covered you too thickly.
And your shadow a melody of blood
Soaked my bones.
And your eyes
Asphalt mirrors
Carved statues of water.
And your hands
Columns of seaweed
Shook the seas.
Me
A frightened ghost
Hiding myself.
I dreaded looking at your eyes
I knew they held oracles.
Four and one nights went by.
Your shadow turned white
Like your tongue.
I found out you would go away.
I tried to see your eyes
An endless sequence
Of unknown faces.
Then I understood
That one night falls
With the weight of all the centuries
And that all the centuries
Weigh upon man
Like a shadow weighs upon a body.
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