Poem
Alberto Vélez
MEMORY
Back then, young girls were the world.Breasts had names. As did mouths.
Sometimes the dream burst in our hands
And our groins swelled in thick liquor,
A gift from the gods.
Mornings and nights of the flesh,
Bodies falling through the end of time.
Long was the sleeplessness.
Tireless blood flowed to our members
And we lacked air for a desire that ceased not and asked no truce.
And we, the boys of those days,
Boast of the battles we’ve lost.
© Translation: 2011, Laura Chalar
Memoria
Memoria
El mundo entonces eran las muchachas.Los senos tenían nombres. Y las bocas.
A veces, el sueño estallaba en nuestras manos
Y las ingles se inflamaban de un licor espeso,
Regalo de los dioses.
Mañanas y noches de la carne,
Cuerpos cayendo por el fin del tiempo.
Fueron largos los insomnios.
Sin descanso, la sangre fluyó hasta nuestros miembros
Y faltó el aire para un deseo que no cesó ni esperó tregua.
Y los muchachos de entonces
Alardeamos de las batallas que perdimos.
© 2007, Alberto Vélez
Publisher: First published on PIW,
Publisher: First published on PIW,
Poems
Poems of Alberto Vélez
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MEMORY
Back then, young girls were the world.Breasts had names. As did mouths.
Sometimes the dream burst in our hands
And our groins swelled in thick liquor,
A gift from the gods.
Mornings and nights of the flesh,
Bodies falling through the end of time.
Long was the sleeplessness.
Tireless blood flowed to our members
And we lacked air for a desire that ceased not and asked no truce.
And we, the boys of those days,
Boast of the battles we’ve lost.
© 2011, Laura Chalar
MEMORY
Back then, young girls were the world.Breasts had names. As did mouths.
Sometimes the dream burst in our hands
And our groins swelled in thick liquor,
A gift from the gods.
Mornings and nights of the flesh,
Bodies falling through the end of time.
Long was the sleeplessness.
Tireless blood flowed to our members
And we lacked air for a desire that ceased not and asked no truce.
And we, the boys of those days,
Boast of the battles we’ve lost.
© 2011, Laura Chalar
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