I am overjoyed to share that my poem in Spanish, “Ode to Guayaquil,” appears in the August 2018 edition of The Acentos Review! There is a great line up of poets in this issue that I am grateful to be counted among – including Alexandra Gulden, Monica Garcia, and ire’ne lara silva!
You can read the entire issue here: The Acentos Review
And I have a new bio pic!
En tus ojos nacen cielos
nos miras desde arriba
con tu dedo largo
dibujas sobre la tierra
trazas lineas vagas, garabatos
dando forma a tus ideas,
el desierto tu papel periodico
esta tierra tu cuaderno borrador
Y si al final estas satisfecho
solo basta una palabra: Nazca!
In your eyes skies are born
you watch us from above
with your long finger
you doodle on the earth
tracing haphazard lines, scribbles
giving form to your ideas
the desert is your newsprint
this land your sketch book
and if at last you are satisfied
only one word is necessary: Be born!
Me tocastes.
Aqui. Y aca.
Me has tocado
por todas partes
en lugares secretos
que nadie mas ha visto
en tiempos pasados
que no quiero borrar
profundamente me tocaste
aunque sin verte, ni oírte
y aveces sin entender
tu silencio.
Pero, yo no soy niña
y para que lo sepas
caigo bien en cuenta
que no eres tu el
que intenta tocarme
sino mas bien soy yo
la que se abre
y se deja tocar
como una flor que vive
fugaz, sin miedo
de marchitarse.
Tactfully
You touched me.
Here. And over here.
You have touched me
everywhere
in secret places
that no one else has seen
in times past
that I don’t wish to erase
you touched me deeply
despite not seeing, or hearing you
and sometimes without understanding
your silence.
But, I am not a young girl
and so that you know
I am well aware that
it is not you who
tries to touch me
instead rather it is I
who opens up
and lets myself be touched
like a flower that lives
fleetingly, without fear
of wilting.
Look around, there is evidence everywhere.
A shower poem.
Mil conversaciones
con mil sentidos,
mil esperanzas
con mil suspiros,
Sin contar las
mil miradas
con mil anhelos,
mil jugadas,
mil duelos.
Mil horas
esperando.
Mil dias
sin verano.
Hay mil formas
de olvidar,
pero mil formas más
de recordar.
Yo te juro:
con solo una palabra
mil campanas
suenan en mi alma,
y mil millas-
mil millas
no son nada.
This is my very first complete poem written in Spanish. Lots of influences coming into play here. Thank you Miss Aurea Perez and Mrs. Miriam Torranzos, two wonderful teachers who shared their love of poetry with their students, and enriched my life in the process.
Mil campanas suenan en mi corazón. Butterflies, by Enrique Tábara, photographed at the Hilton Colon hotel in Guayaquil, Ecuador
