Poem
Raúl Henao
THE VOYAGER
What dangers lie in wait for the voyager who crossesthe garden of shoulders to cry on as night falls? One
step forward and the wall-clinger who has followed
her since daybreak, will offer her that handful of
defoliated poppies in the brew of wintry sleep,
scarcely jarred by hunters of the word firing their muskets
in the middle of the night: Who goes there? Who
goes there?
But the voyager awakens from those potions and
poisons to be announced by the white-bearded
chamberlain at the gates of the sea that seems to
sleep beneath his feet like a drunken marketplace
painter. And what scenes don’t rise up then for
those who still speak of freedom to the insurgent
armies, to the savage gangs of executioners who
erect scaffolds over the face of the earth!... A
whisper of Bastilles collapsing at the impending
reveille and along the trenches of the horizon.
In memoriam Stefan Baciu
© Translation: 1998, Raúl Henao
From: La vida a la Carta
From: La vida a la Carta
LA VIAJERA
LA VIAJERA
¿Qué peligros acechan a la viajera que cruza el jardínde paño de lágrimas a la caída de la tarde? Un paso
adelante y el hombre de muro que la sigue desde
el comienzo del día, le ofrecerá ese puñado de
amapolas deshojadas en el brebaje del sueño
invernal al que apenas espanta la partida de caza
de la palabra disparando su mosquete en
mitad de la noche ¿Quién vive? ¿Quién vive?
Pero la viajera despierta de esos filtros y venenos para
ser anunciada por el chambelán de barba blanca a las
puertas del mar que parece dormir bajo sus pies
como un pintor de feria embriagado. Y qué
escenarios no se levantan entonces para
aquellos que todavía hablan de libertad a los
ejércitos alzados en armas, a las feroces cuadrillas
de verdugos que levantan patíbulos sobre
la faz de la tierra... Un rumor de muros de
Bastillas desplomándose al toque de diana
futuro y a lo largo de las trincheras del horizonte.
In Memoriam Stefan Baciu
© 1998, Raúl Henao
From: La vida a la Carta
Publisher: Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín,
From: La vida a la Carta
Publisher: Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín,
Poems
Poems of Raúl Henao
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THE VOYAGER
What dangers lie in wait for the voyager who crossesthe garden of shoulders to cry on as night falls? One
step forward and the wall-clinger who has followed
her since daybreak, will offer her that handful of
defoliated poppies in the brew of wintry sleep,
scarcely jarred by hunters of the word firing their muskets
in the middle of the night: Who goes there? Who
goes there?
But the voyager awakens from those potions and
poisons to be announced by the white-bearded
chamberlain at the gates of the sea that seems to
sleep beneath his feet like a drunken marketplace
painter. And what scenes don’t rise up then for
those who still speak of freedom to the insurgent
armies, to the savage gangs of executioners who
erect scaffolds over the face of the earth!... A
whisper of Bastilles collapsing at the impending
reveille and along the trenches of the horizon.
In memoriam Stefan Baciu
© 1998, Raúl Henao
From: La vida a la Carta
From: La vida a la Carta
THE VOYAGER
What dangers lie in wait for the voyager who crossesthe garden of shoulders to cry on as night falls? One
step forward and the wall-clinger who has followed
her since daybreak, will offer her that handful of
defoliated poppies in the brew of wintry sleep,
scarcely jarred by hunters of the word firing their muskets
in the middle of the night: Who goes there? Who
goes there?
But the voyager awakens from those potions and
poisons to be announced by the white-bearded
chamberlain at the gates of the sea that seems to
sleep beneath his feet like a drunken marketplace
painter. And what scenes don’t rise up then for
those who still speak of freedom to the insurgent
armies, to the savage gangs of executioners who
erect scaffolds over the face of the earth!... A
whisper of Bastilles collapsing at the impending
reveille and along the trenches of the horizon.
In memoriam Stefan Baciu
© 1998, Raúl Henao
From: La vida a la Carta
From: La vida a la Carta
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