Poem
Santiago Mutis Durán
COLOMBIA TODAY
The days of the Colony have come back again:martyred figures abandoned in the semidarkness
in the endless timeless galleries
in the rarefied atmosphere of the temples
Tense rays of light fall like darts
like choirs like presages
that all or nothing is the same
and the man – the flesh the body –
suffers
crucified to such a lie
Something loves us and destroys us
the world without landscapes without tears;
only grimaces captivity tortures
ecstasies shams hell
emptiness . . .
A caress
strips us
deforms us
damned
like a dark tender
flower
that desires and rejects us.
© Translation: 2005, Nicolás Suescún
Colombia hoy
Colombia hoy
Han vuelto otra vez los días de la Colonia:figuras martirizadas abandonadas a la penumbra
a las interminables galerías sin tiempo
a la atmósfera enrarecida de los templos
Tensos rayos de luz descienden como saetas
como coros como presagios
de que todo y nada son lo mismo
y el hombre – la carne el cuerpo –
sufre
crucificado a semejante mentira
Algo nos ama y nos destruye
el mundo sin paisajes sin lágrimas;
sólo gestos cautiverio suplicios
éxtasis simulacros infierno
vacío . . .
Una caricia
nos desnuda
nos desfigura
maldita
como una flor oscura
tierna
que nos desea y repudia.
© 1998, Santiago Mutis
From: Afuera pasa el siglo
Publisher: Seix Barral, Bogotá
From: Afuera pasa el siglo
Publisher: Seix Barral, Bogotá
Poems
Poems of Santiago Mutis Durán
Close
COLOMBIA TODAY
The days of the Colony have come back again:martyred figures abandoned in the semidarkness
in the endless timeless galleries
in the rarefied atmosphere of the temples
Tense rays of light fall like darts
like choirs like presages
that all or nothing is the same
and the man – the flesh the body –
suffers
crucified to such a lie
Something loves us and destroys us
the world without landscapes without tears;
only grimaces captivity tortures
ecstasies shams hell
emptiness . . .
A caress
strips us
deforms us
damned
like a dark tender
flower
that desires and rejects us.
© 2005, Nicolás Suescún
From: Afuera pasa el siglo
From: Afuera pasa el siglo
COLOMBIA TODAY
The days of the Colony have come back again:martyred figures abandoned in the semidarkness
in the endless timeless galleries
in the rarefied atmosphere of the temples
Tense rays of light fall like darts
like choirs like presages
that all or nothing is the same
and the man – the flesh the body –
suffers
crucified to such a lie
Something loves us and destroys us
the world without landscapes without tears;
only grimaces captivity tortures
ecstasies shams hell
emptiness . . .
A caress
strips us
deforms us
damned
like a dark tender
flower
that desires and rejects us.
© 2005, Nicolás Suescún
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