Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Marcela Parra

Home cinema

A straight line is spreading out towards the west of my room. It's a timeline. From it vessels, trips across the ocean and four voyages of Columbus disembark.

My birthday is marked by a handmade written date.

I still can’t detach myself from that line. And I don’t know how the glasses in this house got shattered one by one. We spend so many hours watching the pirate films recorded in the movie theatre, drinking tee in cups without ears*, in deaf cups. Until we don’t know if it’s day or night, and if it’s nether day nor night, then where are we?

We couldn’t stay awake until the credits, neither the walls nor the floor saved us from that. At last, the blue blinking in our faces is faster than what we can see with our eyes closed. Our sleeping noses reflect all of that noise, those blue snoring sounds that, when they roar, seem ownerless.

A handmade written date marks the day of my enlightenment. That line travels around the house while we’re sleeping, like a cord tying up the future of friends. We’ll separate one day, but it’ll be a lie.

I know that when I wake I’ll return to being sad, shoving my hand into my pocket, to prove that I’ve spent everything in saying good bye. I’ll have friends no longer, but I could still find someone older to make me feel younger, someone younger to make me feel older, and not knowing if you are older or younger, it makes you and the sunset alike.

A handmade written date marks my burial day. By then, all the dead will exist in their relative’s memories, until their relatives exist in their own relative’s memories.  
And the fear of the sunset, will be only a mark of birth.

Cine en su casa

Cine en su casa

Hacia el poniente de mi pieza se extiende una línea recta
es una línea de tiempo. De ella se desprenden barcos, navegaciones interoceánicas, los cuatro viajes de Colón.

Una fecha a mano alzada marca el día de mi nacimiento.

Aún no puedo deshacerme de esa línea. Tampoco sé por qué uno a uno se han quebrado los vasos de esta casa
y pasamos horas viendo películas pirateadas desde el cine, tomando té en tazas sin orejas, en tazas sordas
hasta que no sabemos si es de día o si es de noche y si no es de día ni de noche, entonces dónde estar.

Nunca permanecimos despiertos hasta los créditos y ni las paredes ni el techo pudieron salvarnos de eso. Al fin, el parpadeo azul en nuestras caras es más rápido que lo visto por los párpados cerrados. Nuestras narices dormidas reflejarán todos esos ruidos, esos ronquidos azules que con sueño, parecen no tener dueño.

Una fecha a mano alzada marca el día de mi alumbramiento. Mientras dormimos, esa línea viaja por nuestra casa, como un cordón que amarra el futuro de los amigos. Nos separaremos un día, sí, pero será mentira.

Yo sé que al despertar voy a volver triste, metiendo la mano en el bolsillo y comprobando que lo gasté todo en despedirme. Ya no tendré amigos, pero aún podré buscar alguien más viejo, para sentirme más joven, alguien más joven, para sentirme más vieja y no saber si se es joven o se es vieja, eso es parecerse al atardecer.

Una fecha a mano alzada marca el día de mi entierro. Para entonces, todos los muertos pasarán a existir en la memoria de sus deudos, hasta que sus deudos pasen a existir en la memoria de sus deudos.
Y lo del miedo al atardecer será sólo una marca de nacimiento.
Close

Home cinema

A straight line is spreading out towards the west of my room. It's a timeline. From it vessels, trips across the ocean and four voyages of Columbus disembark.

My birthday is marked by a handmade written date.

I still can’t detach myself from that line. And I don’t know how the glasses in this house got shattered one by one. We spend so many hours watching the pirate films recorded in the movie theatre, drinking tee in cups without ears*, in deaf cups. Until we don’t know if it’s day or night, and if it’s nether day nor night, then where are we?

We couldn’t stay awake until the credits, neither the walls nor the floor saved us from that. At last, the blue blinking in our faces is faster than what we can see with our eyes closed. Our sleeping noses reflect all of that noise, those blue snoring sounds that, when they roar, seem ownerless.

A handmade written date marks the day of my enlightenment. That line travels around the house while we’re sleeping, like a cord tying up the future of friends. We’ll separate one day, but it’ll be a lie.

I know that when I wake I’ll return to being sad, shoving my hand into my pocket, to prove that I’ve spent everything in saying good bye. I’ll have friends no longer, but I could still find someone older to make me feel younger, someone younger to make me feel older, and not knowing if you are older or younger, it makes you and the sunset alike.

A handmade written date marks my burial day. By then, all the dead will exist in their relative’s memories, until their relatives exist in their own relative’s memories.  
And the fear of the sunset, will be only a mark of birth.

Home cinema

A straight line is spreading out towards the west of my room. It's a timeline. From it vessels, trips across the ocean and four voyages of Columbus disembark.

My birthday is marked by a handmade written date.

I still can’t detach myself from that line. And I don’t know how the glasses in this house got shattered one by one. We spend so many hours watching the pirate films recorded in the movie theatre, drinking tee in cups without ears*, in deaf cups. Until we don’t know if it’s day or night, and if it’s nether day nor night, then where are we?

We couldn’t stay awake until the credits, neither the walls nor the floor saved us from that. At last, the blue blinking in our faces is faster than what we can see with our eyes closed. Our sleeping noses reflect all of that noise, those blue snoring sounds that, when they roar, seem ownerless.

A handmade written date marks the day of my enlightenment. That line travels around the house while we’re sleeping, like a cord tying up the future of friends. We’ll separate one day, but it’ll be a lie.

I know that when I wake I’ll return to being sad, shoving my hand into my pocket, to prove that I’ve spent everything in saying good bye. I’ll have friends no longer, but I could still find someone older to make me feel younger, someone younger to make me feel older, and not knowing if you are older or younger, it makes you and the sunset alike.

A handmade written date marks my burial day. By then, all the dead will exist in their relative’s memories, until their relatives exist in their own relative’s memories.  
And the fear of the sunset, will be only a mark of birth.
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