Poem
Henry Luque
WHAT THE GAZE CAN DO
We have gone into the shop to see the sick light.The human irons fill the intimate cupboards
and I have lost my soul, my balance,
amid a darkness of ten and seven years.
Slowly I have lost my mask
while you shrouded me with a kiss.
Your navel was the valley crowned by a sunset.
This was not our world nor was this the blindness
that rubs us out like eternity in a country of smiles.
Look: caves that keep in celestial coffins
the chained phantom of the spinal cord.
Here only condoms are cheap, the fragrance of the screw,
the tunnel adorned with its habitual blood.
Glitter devoid of desire where you notice
the trees of calamity, the throbbing of a gaze
that leaf after leaf spills over the futile counters.
When heads no longer have a single drop of fever,
and a humanized heaven does away with dungeons,
the condor with golden teeth will apologize.
Like rain at the entrance of the cinemas,
dreams will riot, clearness will spring up again.
© Translation: 2007, Nicolás Suescún
LO QUE PUEDE LA MIRADA
LO QUE PUEDE LA MIRADA
Hemos entrado en el almacén para ver la luz enferma.Los hierros humanos llenan las alacenas íntimas
y he perdido mi alma, mi equilibrio,
entre una tiniebla de diez y siete años.
Lentamente he perdido la máscara
mientras me amortajabas con un beso.
Tu ombligo era el valle coronado por una puesta de sol.
No era este nuestro mundo ni esta la ceguera
que nos borras como la eternidad en un país de sonrisas.
Ved: cuevas que guardan en ataúdes celestes
el fantasma encadenado de la médula espinal.
Aquí solo son baratos los condones, la fragancia del polvo,
el túnel que se adorna con su sangre habitual.
Brillo huérfano del deseo donde se advierten
los árboles de la calamidad, el latido de una mirada
que hoja por hoja se derrama sobre los mostradores vanos.
Cuando las cabezas ya no tengan una gota de fiebre,
y un cielo humanizado borre los calabozos,
el cóndor de dientes de oro pedirá perdón.
Como la lluvia a la entrada de los cines,
se amotinarán los sueños, resurgirá la claridad.
© 1977, Sara Gonzáles
From: Lo que puede la mirada
Publisher: Editorial Andes, Bogotá
From: Lo que puede la mirada
Publisher: Editorial Andes, Bogotá
Poems
Poems of Henry Luque
Close
WHAT THE GAZE CAN DO
We have gone into the shop to see the sick light.The human irons fill the intimate cupboards
and I have lost my soul, my balance,
amid a darkness of ten and seven years.
Slowly I have lost my mask
while you shrouded me with a kiss.
Your navel was the valley crowned by a sunset.
This was not our world nor was this the blindness
that rubs us out like eternity in a country of smiles.
Look: caves that keep in celestial coffins
the chained phantom of the spinal cord.
Here only condoms are cheap, the fragrance of the screw,
the tunnel adorned with its habitual blood.
Glitter devoid of desire where you notice
the trees of calamity, the throbbing of a gaze
that leaf after leaf spills over the futile counters.
When heads no longer have a single drop of fever,
and a humanized heaven does away with dungeons,
the condor with golden teeth will apologize.
Like rain at the entrance of the cinemas,
dreams will riot, clearness will spring up again.
© 2007, Nicolás Suescún
From: Lo que puede la mirada
From: Lo que puede la mirada
WHAT THE GAZE CAN DO
We have gone into the shop to see the sick light.The human irons fill the intimate cupboards
and I have lost my soul, my balance,
amid a darkness of ten and seven years.
Slowly I have lost my mask
while you shrouded me with a kiss.
Your navel was the valley crowned by a sunset.
This was not our world nor was this the blindness
that rubs us out like eternity in a country of smiles.
Look: caves that keep in celestial coffins
the chained phantom of the spinal cord.
Here only condoms are cheap, the fragrance of the screw,
the tunnel adorned with its habitual blood.
Glitter devoid of desire where you notice
the trees of calamity, the throbbing of a gaze
that leaf after leaf spills over the futile counters.
When heads no longer have a single drop of fever,
and a humanized heaven does away with dungeons,
the condor with golden teeth will apologize.
Like rain at the entrance of the cinemas,
dreams will riot, clearness will spring up again.
© 2007, Nicolás Suescún
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