Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Julio Carrasco

At the ends of the earth (Ercilla wanders off from the group y writes about the bark of a tree)

It was the end of our trip to the beach; I had distanced myself from the group to study the descent of the sun
immediately upon lifting my gaze
I saw that the clouds moved in one huge uniform block
The wind blew past before me, as if the clouds were still and the beach moving
Poised at the sea’s edge it felt as if I were standing on the prow of the Trinidad,
flagship of the Magellan fleet
as if the entire earth was a ship traveling around the universe
crossing space-time avenues lit up by huge astral explosions
Then (I meant to tell you, you were with the others)
I wrote our initials inside a heart-shaped spaceship
or rather a heart, not a spaceship
but in some ways a ship because (and this is an opportunistic conclusion I came to later)
it would serve to transport the little world we’d made together
The same forces that lifted that heart from the sand (the wind, sea, time)
now move my thoughts toward remembering it: I can feel myself go out over this ship that is earth
crossing space-time intersections
and gigantic quartz deserts suspended between your childhood memories and mine, that came before the memory of this moment
Crossing your history and mine that had then begun to pull apart
and now begin to meet again in another place, not in that beach where neither of us are, not you not I nor the rest
because when you go back there, you won’t see the heart on the sand
It’s already gone off, far, out toward the pale-blue book with the inventory of great astral explosions.

En el confín del mundo (Ercilla se aleja del grupo y escribe sobre una corteza de árbol)

En el confín del mundo (Ercilla se aleja del grupo y escribe sobre una corteza de árbol)

Fue al final de un paseo a la playa; me había alejado del grupo para observar el descenso del sol
Inmediatamente después de subir la vista
noté que las nubes se movían en un gran bloque uniforme 
El viento soplaba de frente como cuando avanzamos
y daba la impresión de que las nubes estuvieran quietas y la playa en movimiento.
Detenido en el borde del mar podía sentirlo como si estuviera parado en la proa de la Trinidad, buque insignia de la flota de Magallanes
como si la Tierra toda fuera un buque recorriendo el universo
cruzando avenidas espacio temporales iluminadas por las grandes explosiones estelares
Entonces (pensé decírtelo, estabas con los demás)
dibujé nuestras iniciales dentro de una nave espacial con forma de corazón
o más bien un corazón, no una nave espacial
pero en cierta forma una nave porque (y esta es una decisión oportunista que tomé más tarde)
serviría para transportar el pequeño mundo que habíamos creado al estar juntos
Las mismas fuerzas que se llevaron ese corazón de la arena (el viento, el mar, el tiempo)
mueven mis pensamientos al recordarlo: me siento ir sobre esta nave que es la Tierra
atravesando avenidas espacio temporales
y gigantescos desiertos de cuarzo suspendidos entre los recuerdos de infancia tuyos y míos, que precedieron el recuerdo de este momento
Atravesando tu historia y la mía que comenzaban a separarse entonces
y que comienzan a encontrarse ahora en otro lugar, ya no en esa playa donde no estamos ni tú ni yo ni los demás
porque cuando vuelvas allá no verás el corazón sobre la arena
Partió lejos, hacia el libro celeste donde está el inventario de las grandes explosiones estelares.
Close

At the ends of the earth (Ercilla wanders off from the group y writes about the bark of a tree)

It was the end of our trip to the beach; I had distanced myself from the group to study the descent of the sun
immediately upon lifting my gaze
I saw that the clouds moved in one huge uniform block
The wind blew past before me, as if the clouds were still and the beach moving
Poised at the sea’s edge it felt as if I were standing on the prow of the Trinidad,
flagship of the Magellan fleet
as if the entire earth was a ship traveling around the universe
crossing space-time avenues lit up by huge astral explosions
Then (I meant to tell you, you were with the others)
I wrote our initials inside a heart-shaped spaceship
or rather a heart, not a spaceship
but in some ways a ship because (and this is an opportunistic conclusion I came to later)
it would serve to transport the little world we’d made together
The same forces that lifted that heart from the sand (the wind, sea, time)
now move my thoughts toward remembering it: I can feel myself go out over this ship that is earth
crossing space-time intersections
and gigantic quartz deserts suspended between your childhood memories and mine, that came before the memory of this moment
Crossing your history and mine that had then begun to pull apart
and now begin to meet again in another place, not in that beach where neither of us are, not you not I nor the rest
because when you go back there, you won’t see the heart on the sand
It’s already gone off, far, out toward the pale-blue book with the inventory of great astral explosions.

At the ends of the earth (Ercilla wanders off from the group y writes about the bark of a tree)

It was the end of our trip to the beach; I had distanced myself from the group to study the descent of the sun
immediately upon lifting my gaze
I saw that the clouds moved in one huge uniform block
The wind blew past before me, as if the clouds were still and the beach moving
Poised at the sea’s edge it felt as if I were standing on the prow of the Trinidad,
flagship of the Magellan fleet
as if the entire earth was a ship traveling around the universe
crossing space-time avenues lit up by huge astral explosions
Then (I meant to tell you, you were with the others)
I wrote our initials inside a heart-shaped spaceship
or rather a heart, not a spaceship
but in some ways a ship because (and this is an opportunistic conclusion I came to later)
it would serve to transport the little world we’d made together
The same forces that lifted that heart from the sand (the wind, sea, time)
now move my thoughts toward remembering it: I can feel myself go out over this ship that is earth
crossing space-time intersections
and gigantic quartz deserts suspended between your childhood memories and mine, that came before the memory of this moment
Crossing your history and mine that had then begun to pull apart
and now begin to meet again in another place, not in that beach where neither of us are, not you not I nor the rest
because when you go back there, you won’t see the heart on the sand
It’s already gone off, far, out toward the pale-blue book with the inventory of great astral explosions.
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