Poem
Lauren Mendinueta
SHADOW AMONG SHADOWS
Just like a firebirdYour 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.
© Translation: 2010, Constance Lardas
SOMBRA EN SOMBRAS
SOMBRA EN SOMBRAS
Igual que un pájaro de fuegoTus 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.
© 1999, Lauren Mendinueta
From: Inventario de Ciudad
Publisher: Golem Editores, Barranquilla
From: Inventario de Ciudad
Publisher: Golem Editores, Barranquilla
Poems
Poems of Lauren Mendinueta
Close
SHADOW AMONG SHADOWS
Just like a firebirdYour 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.
© 2010, Constance Lardas
From: Inventario de Ciudad
From: Inventario de Ciudad
SHADOW AMONG SHADOWS
Just like a firebirdYour 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.
© 2010, Constance Lardas
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère