Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Julio Carrasco

Spring in Bangladesh

You can imagine few situations as strange as returning to Bangladesh
and seeing that things haven’t moved from where you left them:

the same streets

(but empty).

Facts transpire in their way, I don’t know how to describe it
There are flowers opening and closing at undetectable speeds, and also birds
For those who return to Bangladesh, reality turns into a symptom of another less relevant issue

something like letting oneself go into the air
strolling in time is being still

These streets traveled too, in their way (I don’t know how to describe it)
Now apparently you’ve returned
and roam them, agreeably confused
you try to guess in which of them an ambush awaits you

The wind combs your eyelashes: stay calm foreigner

it’s spring in Bangladesh
and there’s a dew over everything of something that isn’t quite uncertainty, or perhaps was in another time, it doesn’t matter now:

a letting oneself be in the air

a letting oneself go in time.

Primavera en Bangladesh

Primavera en Bangladesh

Puedes imaginar pocas situaciones tan extrañas como regresar a Bangladesh
y ver que las cosas no se han movido del lugar en que las dejaste:

las mismas calles

(pero vacías).

Los hechos transcurren a su modo, no sé cómo describirlo
Hay flores abriéndose y cerrándose a velocidades imperceptibles, también hay pájaros
Para quien regresa a Bangladesh la realidad deviene casi un síntoma de otro asunto
menos relevante

algo así como un dejarse ir en el aire

Andar en el tiempo es estarse quieto

Estas avenidas viajaron también, a su manera (no sabes cómo describirlo)
Ahora que se supone has vuelto
y las recorres, agradablemente confundido
juegas a adivinar en cuál de ellas habrá una emboscada para ti

El viento te peina las pestañas: ten calma forastero

pues es primavera en Bangladesh
y hay sobre todas las cosas una suerte de rocío de algo que no alcanza a ser incertidumbre, o que lo fue tal vez en otra época, ya no tiene importancia:

un dejarse estar en el aire

un dejarse ir en el tiempo.
Close

Spring in Bangladesh

You can imagine few situations as strange as returning to Bangladesh
and seeing that things haven’t moved from where you left them:

the same streets

(but empty).

Facts transpire in their way, I don’t know how to describe it
There are flowers opening and closing at undetectable speeds, and also birds
For those who return to Bangladesh, reality turns into a symptom of another less relevant issue

something like letting oneself go into the air
strolling in time is being still

These streets traveled too, in their way (I don’t know how to describe it)
Now apparently you’ve returned
and roam them, agreeably confused
you try to guess in which of them an ambush awaits you

The wind combs your eyelashes: stay calm foreigner

it’s spring in Bangladesh
and there’s a dew over everything of something that isn’t quite uncertainty, or perhaps was in another time, it doesn’t matter now:

a letting oneself be in the air

a letting oneself go in time.

Spring in Bangladesh

You can imagine few situations as strange as returning to Bangladesh
and seeing that things haven’t moved from where you left them:

the same streets

(but empty).

Facts transpire in their way, I don’t know how to describe it
There are flowers opening and closing at undetectable speeds, and also birds
For those who return to Bangladesh, reality turns into a symptom of another less relevant issue

something like letting oneself go into the air
strolling in time is being still

These streets traveled too, in their way (I don’t know how to describe it)
Now apparently you’ve returned
and roam them, agreeably confused
you try to guess in which of them an ambush awaits you

The wind combs your eyelashes: stay calm foreigner

it’s spring in Bangladesh
and there’s a dew over everything of something that isn’t quite uncertainty, or perhaps was in another time, it doesn’t matter now:

a letting oneself be in the air

a letting oneself go in time.
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