Poem
Raúl Zurita
If you only knew
If you only knew then how I weep andcan’t wake up, I’d look so funny to you
if you were to be just as I am before the
rivers of my country weeping for you.
They told me and it’s not true, only I
have seen you, I saw your face the color
of black amber and sky but no. The
guys took the white flags out in the
encampment, but just the same they beat us.
Are you there among the beaten, the weeping,
the dead? Are you there too my God
sleeping face down?
There are no pardons for this new earth,
they tell me and nothing of what we do will
change our fate, but I weep and don’t wake
up and my God draws away like a boat.
© Translation: 2016, Anna Deeny Morales
From: Sky Below: Selected Works by Raúl Zurita
Publisher: Northwestern UP, Chicago, 2016
From: Sky Below: Selected Works by Raúl Zurita
Publisher: Northwestern UP, Chicago, 2016
Als je eens wist
Als je eens wist hoe ik huil en niet wakkerkan worden, wat zou ik je bekoren als je
net als ik voor de rivieren van mijn land
stond te huilen om jou. Ze zeiden het me
en het klopt niet, alleen ik heb je gezien,
ik zag je gezicht gitzwart en hemelkleurig
maar nee. In het kamp zwaaiden jongens
met witte vlaggen, maar ze sloegen ons toch.
Ben jij onder hen die geslagen zijn, die huilen,
die stierven? Ben jij daar ook mijn God,
slapend, ondersteboven?
Er is geen genade voor dit nieuwe land, zeggen
ze me en niets wat we doen zal het lot dat ons
wacht veranderen, maar ik huil en ontwaak niet
en mijn God raakt uit zicht als een boot.
© Vertaling: 2019, Lisa Thunnissen
Si solo supieras
Si solo supieras entonces cómo lloro y no
puedo despertar, que graciosa me verías si
estuvieras como yo frente a los ríos de mi
país llorando por ti. Me contaron y no es
cierto, solamente yo te he visto, vi tu cara
color del azabache y del cielo pero no. Los
muchachos sacaron banderas blancas en el
campamento, pero igual nos golpearon.
¿Estás tú entre los golpeados, los llorosos,
los muertos? ¿Estás tú también allí mi Dios
durmiendo cabeza abajo?
No hay perdón para esta nueva tierra, me
dicen y nada de lo que hagamos cambiará
la suerte que tendremos, pero yo lloro y no
despierto y mi Dios se aleja como un barco
© 2018, Raúl Zurita
From: La vida nueva
Publisher: Editorial Lumen, Barcelona
From: La vida nueva
Publisher: Editorial Lumen, Barcelona
Poems
Poems of Raúl Zurita
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If you only knew
If you only knew then how I weep andcan’t wake up, I’d look so funny to you
if you were to be just as I am before the
rivers of my country weeping for you.
They told me and it’s not true, only I
have seen you, I saw your face the color
of black amber and sky but no. The
guys took the white flags out in the
encampment, but just the same they beat us.
Are you there among the beaten, the weeping,
the dead? Are you there too my God
sleeping face down?
There are no pardons for this new earth,
they tell me and nothing of what we do will
change our fate, but I weep and don’t wake
up and my God draws away like a boat.
© 2016, Anna Deeny Morales
From: Sky Below: Selected Works by Raúl Zurita
Publisher: 2016, Northwestern UP, Chicago
From: Sky Below: Selected Works by Raúl Zurita
Publisher: 2016, Northwestern UP, Chicago
If you only knew
If you only knew then how I weep andcan’t wake up, I’d look so funny to you
if you were to be just as I am before the
rivers of my country weeping for you.
They told me and it’s not true, only I
have seen you, I saw your face the color
of black amber and sky but no. The
guys took the white flags out in the
encampment, but just the same they beat us.
Are you there among the beaten, the weeping,
the dead? Are you there too my God
sleeping face down?
There are no pardons for this new earth,
they tell me and nothing of what we do will
change our fate, but I weep and don’t wake
up and my God draws away like a boat.
© 2016, Anna Deeny Morales
From: Sky Below: Selected Works by Raúl Zurita
Publisher: 2016, Northwestern UP, Chicago
From: Sky Below: Selected Works by Raúl Zurita
Publisher: 2016, Northwestern UP, Chicago
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