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	<title>· the cultural society · &#187; Pura López-Colomé</title>
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		<title>Water &#160;&#160;(translated by Jason Stumpf)</title>
		<link>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/water-translated-by-jason-stumpf/</link>
		<comments>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/water-translated-by-jason-stumpf/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 2005 16:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Pura López-Colomé</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[poems]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.culturalsociety.org/?p=2085</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1 It has started to snow. Flakes, water that hurts when it hits. They settle burning on my fears, my mystery. They do not slip, nailed like thorns from a crown of gold. Like roots. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;2 How many feet have passed through here without treading on joy and contemplation, at the same time: Uphill, I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1<br />
      </span></span></p>
<p class="style12">It has started to snow.<br />
  Flakes, <br />
  water <br />
  that hurts when it hits. <br />
  They settle burning <br />
  on my fears,<br />
  my mystery. <br />
  They do not slip,<br />
  nailed like thorns <br />
  from a crown of gold. <br />
  Like roots. 
</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2</p>
<p class="style12">How many feet have passed through here<br />
  without treading on<br />
  joy and contemplation, <br />
  at the same time: </p>
<p class="style12">Uphill,<br />
  I managed to see the spoils<br />
  of narcissus. <br />
  Everything was blue from that point <br />
  forward.<br />
  I encouraged a desire: <br />
  not the advance, nor the frozen top <br />
  not the heat of the heavens. <br />
  Only the surge <br />
  without cell or freedom, <br />
  only the surge. 
</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3</p>
<p class="style12">Your village of fire<br />
  saw me return, <br />
  its beings in constant movement, <br />
  its message. <br />
  Everything felt dissolved <br />
  in a dense layer, <br />
  that sea.</p>
<p class="style12">I noticed it began falling back. <br />
  I reached out my arm. <br />
  My fingers yearned to get wet, barely,<br />
  like in an old, <br />
  baptismal font&#8230; </p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4</p>
<p class="style12"><em>Open Sea</em> </p>
<p class="style12">That sea made me into<br />
  a consecrated mother-of-pearl, <br />
  a vessel full of something <br />
  that goes away,<br />
  simply evaporates,<br />
  at its own rate.<br />
  Aquamarine flower, <br />
  fragrant salt <br />
  and damp hugs <br />
  between one life and another, <br />
  without borders. </p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5</p>
<p class="style12"><em>Out to Sea</em></p>
<p>    I saw you in the distance, from a distance,<br />
    but you weren&rsquo;t laying in the boat, <br />
    the horizon. <br />
    You were walking, concealing <br />
    some destiny. <br />
    Your expression<br />
    was unmistakable.<br />
    Your saffron robe,<br />
    a living urn. <br />
    I thought that you called to me. <br />
    I passed my fingers over your skin <br />
    wishing to keep it <br />
    in the memory of my heart. <br />
    In the fog, <br />
    your eyelids twitched<br />
    when touching me.<br />
    And so did I.</p>
<p class="style12">The rose of worlds turned <br />
  until withering. It made light.<br />
  Not one teardrop in its folds. <br />
  In its fresh center, <br />
  your open eye <br />
  horrifying, <br />
  for the first time, <br />
  full of brimful tenderness.<br />
  You had just died, <br />
  aurora, <br />
  in the dark night <br />
  of my body.<br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  <span class="style4">&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="style20">
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  <span class="style21">Agua</span></p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1</p>
<p class="style12">Ha comenzado a nevar.<br />
  Copos,<br />
  agua<br />
  que hiere de golpe.<br />
  Se posan candentes<br />
  sobre mis temores.<br />
  No resbalan.<br />
  Se han clavado como espinas<br />
  de una corono de oro.<br />
  Como ra&iacute;ces.
</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2</p>
<p class="style12">Cu&aacute;ntos pies han pasado por aqu&iacute;<br />
  sin hollar<br />
  gozo y contemplaci&oacute;n,<br />
  un mismo tiempo:</p>
<p class="style12">Cuesta arriba,<br />
  alcanc&eacute; a ver los despojos<br />
  del narciso.<br />
  Todo era azul desde ese punto<br />
  hasta el final.<br />
  Alent&eacute;un deseo:<br />
  no el avance, ni la cima helada<br />
  ni la calidez del cielo.<br />
  S&oacute;lo el oleaje<br />
  sin celda o libertad,<br />
  s&oacute;lo el oleaje.
</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3</p>
<p class="style12">Tu poblaci&oacute;n de fuego<br />
  me vio volver,<br />
  sus seres en constante movimiento,<br />
  su mensaje.<br />
  Todo se sent&iacute;a disuelto<br />
  en una capa densa,<br />
  el mar aqu&eacute;l.</p>
<p class="style12">Not&eacute; que comenzaba a replegarse.<br />
  Alargu&eacute; el brazo.<br />
  Mis dedos anhelaban mojarse apenas,<br />
  como en una pila antigua,<br />
  bautismal&#8230;
</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4 / Mar abierto</p>
<p class="style12">Es mar hizo de m&iacute;<br />
  una madreperla consagrada,<br />
  una vasija llena de algo<br />
  que se va<br />
  o simplemente se evapora<br />
  a ritmo propio.<br />
  Flor aguamarina,<br />
  olorosa a sal<br />
  y h&uacute;medos abrazos<br />
  entre una vida y otra,<br />
  sin orillas.</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="style12">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5 / Mar adentro</p>
<p class="style12">Te vi a lo lejos, desde muy lejos,<br />
  pero no yac&iacute;as en la barca,<br />
  el horizonte.<br />
  Caminabas, escondiendo<br />
  alg&uacute;n destino.<br />
  Tu expresi&oacute;n<br />
  me era inconfundiable.<br />
  Tu manto de azafr&aacute;n,<br />
  una urna viva.<br />
  Cre&iacute; que me llamabas.<br />
  Pas&eacute; los dedos por tu piel <br />
  deseando guardarla<br />
  en la memoria del coraz&oacute;n.<br />
  Entre la niebla,<br />
  tus p&aacute;rpados temblaron<br />
  al sentirme.<br />
  Y yo tambi&eacute;n.</p>
<p class="style12">La rosa de los mundos gir&oacute;<br />
  hasta secarse. Se hizo luz.<br />
  Ni una l&aacute;grima en sus pliegues.<br />
  En su centro fresco,<br />
  tu ojo espeluznante,<br />
  lleno, por primera vez,<br />
  de una ternura incontenible.<br />
  Acababas de morir,<br />
  aurora, <br />
  en la noche <br />
  de mi cuerpo.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Truce &#160;&#160;&#160;(translated by Jason Stumpf)</title>
		<link>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/truce-translated-by-jason-stumpf/</link>
		<comments>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/truce-translated-by-jason-stumpf/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2005 16:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Pura López-Colomé</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[poems]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.culturalsociety.org/?p=2126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I won&#8217;t be the one to make you suffer. You will not spill tears that can extinguish you. You will guard the burning waves between the temples restless, immovable, hollowed of emotion, remembering this world is a vile, stagnant sea. Darkness will be nothing compared to love beating its wings in the ether. There. &#8226;&#160;&#8226;&#160;&#8226; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I won&rsquo;t be the one to make you suffer.<br />
  You will not spill tears<br />
  that can extinguish you.<br />
  You will guard the burning waves<br />
  between the temples<br />
  restless, immovable,<br />
  hollowed of emotion,<br />
  remembering this world<br />
  is a vile, stagnant sea.<br />
  Darkness will be nothing<br />
  compared to love<br />
  beating its wings<br />
  in the ether.<br />
  There.</span><font color="#666666"><em><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
    </em></font><em><span class="style4">&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&bull;<br />
    </br><br />
    </br><br />
    </br><br />
    </span></em><span class="style4"><span class="style18">Acuerdo</span><br />
  </span><span class="style15"></p>
<p>
No ser&eacute; yo quien te haga sufrir.<br />
No derramar&aacute;s l&aacute;grimas<br />
  que puedan extinguirte.<br />
  Guardar&aacute;s el mar candente<br />
  entre las sienes.<br />
  Descansar&aacute;s, inm&oacute;vil,<br />
  supurando sentimiento,<br />
  recordando que este mundo<br />
  es un vil mar de sargazos.<br />
  La opacidad no ser&aacute; tal<br />
  frente al amor<br />
  batiendo alas<br />
  en el &eacute;ter.<br />
  Aqu&eacute;l.</span><font color="#666666"><em><br />
  </em></font></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>In Memoriam Francis &#160;&#160;&#160;(translated by Jason Stumpf)</title>
		<link>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/in-memoriam-francis-translated-by-jason-stumpf/</link>
		<comments>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/in-memoriam-francis-translated-by-jason-stumpf/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2005 16:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Pura López-Colomé</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[poems]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.culturalsociety.org/?p=2122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What Day is Today 1 Your second heart radiates shortly before the decline. A brief awakening, a breeze that returns from the other shore. One morning more that anticipates a long, long absence. Strings in an almost weightless body. To give the hand and to go loosening little by little, little by little, until it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>  <em>What Day is Today </em><br />
      </br><br />
</br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 1</p>
<p class="style12">Your second heart radiates<br />
  shortly before the decline.<br />
  A brief awakening,<br />
  a breeze<br />
  that returns from the other shore.<br />
  One morning more<br />
  that anticipates a long, long absence.<br />
  Strings in an almost weightless body.<br />
  To give the hand and to go loosening<br />
  little by little, little by little,<br />
  until it&rsquo;s gone.<br />
  As simple as the afternoon<br />
  or the moment of greater health.
</p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 2</p>
<p class="style12">Suddenly,<br />
  your front door opens,<br />
  and the inside,<br />
  locked up for life, goes forth.<br />
  Like the worst and most violent<br />
  rush of waves,<br />
  it whips those of us who are outside,<br />
  it spreads over the consciences, floods them.<br />
  I want to escape.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I stumble.<br />
  I want to forget you.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I cannot.<br />
  I see old age in your young hand.<br />
  Not the smallest sign of fatigue<br />
  in the centuries of your body.<br />
  Your face floods me in silence.<br />
  It frightens me.<br />
  It is the daily bread and the knife<br />
  that would try not to spill blood<br />
  before time.
</p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 3</p>
<p class="style12">If I could open up my heart,<br />
  open it for you with my hands,<br />
  even though the spirit<br />
  which we have spoken of to no one would escape.<br />
  If I could blow my brains up<br />
  with a single well directed intention,<br />
  or open it, open it for you<br />
  with master key.<br />
  If I could,<br />
  perhaps I would find an answer,<br />
  not the solution to these mysteries.<br />
  It would not be warm, lukewarm<br />
  like human blood.<br />
  It would not be clear like the rivers<br />
  that flow from the cerebral source.<br />
  It would be frost. Cloudy.<br />
  Fetid. Contaminated to say the least.<br />
  It would not wash the wounds<br />
  of your final moments.
</p>
<p class="style12">To say <em>if I could</em> is not to be able<br />
  to move a finger in that direction.<br />
It is to ignore everything.</p>
<p class="style12">That there is light.
</p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 4</p>
<p class="style10"><span class="style11">Already, you are as light<br />
  as the mountain of my desires<br />
  <em>at one time</em>.<br />
  Innocent.<br />
  Harmless.</span><font color="#666666"><em><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </em></font><em><span class="style4"><br />
  </br><br />
&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&bull;<br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  <span class="style14"><br />
  </span></span></em><span class="style14">In Memoriam Francisco</span></p>
<p class="style10 style11"><em>Que dia es hoy</em></p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 1</p>
<p class="style12">Irradia tu segundo coraz&oacute;n<br />
  poco antes del descenso.<br />
  Un despertar breve,<br />
  una brisa<br />
  que vuelve desde la otra orilla.<br />
  Una ma&ntilde;ana mas,<br />
  Una suerte de &aacute;nimo presente<br />
  que anticipa una larga, larga ausencia.<br />
  Briznas en un cuerpo casi ingr&aacute;vido.<br />
  Un dar la mano e irla zafando<br />
  poco a poco, poco a poco,<br />
  hasta que ya.<br />
  Tan simple como el mediod&iacute;a<br />
  o el momento de mayor salud.
</p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 2</p>
<p class="style12">S&uacute;bitamente se abre <br />
  tu puerta de entrada,<br />
  y sale el interior<br />
  encerrado de por vida.<br />
  Como el peor y m&aacute;s violento<br />
  de todos los oleajes,<br />
  nos azota a los que estamos fuera,<br />
  se esparce sobre la conciencias, las anega.<br />
  Quiero escapar. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Me tropiezo.<br />
  Quero olvidarte. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Soy incapaz.<br />
  Veo ancianidad en tu mano ni&ntilde;a.<br />
  Ni el menor rastro de fatiga<br />
  en los siglos de tu cuerpo.<br />
  Tu rostro me inunda.<br />
  Me da horror.<br />
  Es el pan cotidiano y el cuchillo<br />
  que pretendiera no derramar sangre<br />
  <em>antes de tiempo</em>.
</p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 3</p>
<p class="style12">Si pudiera abrirme el coraz&oacute;n<br />
  o abr&iacute;rtelo con las manos,<br />
  aunque escapara el aliento <br />
  de lo que nunca a nadie le hemos dicho.<br />
  Si pudiera volarme la tapa de los sesos<br />
  con una sola intenci&oacute;n bien dirigida,<br />
  o abrirla, abrirtela<br />
  con llave maestra.<br />
  Si pudiera,<br />
  acaso hallar&iacute;a una respuestta,<br />
  no la soluci&oacute;n a estos misterios.<br />
  No s&eacute;ria c&aacute;lida, tibia<br />
  como la sangre humana.<br />
  No s&eacute;ria clara como los r&iacute;os <br />
  que manan de la fuente cerebral.<br />
  Seria helada. Turbia.<br />
  F&eacute;tida. Contaminada a decir basta.<br />
  No lavaria las llagas<br />
de tus &uacute;ltimos momentos.</p>
<p class="style12">Decir <em>si pudiera</em> es no poder<br />
  mover un dedo en esa direcci&oacute;n.<br />
  Es ignorarlo todo<br />
acerca del camino que te espera.</p>
<p class="style12">Que haya luz.
</p>
<p></br><br />
</br></p>
<p class="style12"> 4</p>
<p class="style12">Ya eres tan ligero<br />
  como el mont&oacute;n de mis deseos<br />
  <em>a un tiempo</em>.<br />
  Inocente. Libre<br />
  de culpa. Que no da&ntilde;a.<br />
  El dolor, su pureza,<br />
  ha puesto todo en su lugar.<font color="#666666"><em><br />
  </em></font></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Advance &#160;&#160;&#160;(translated by Jason Stumpf)</title>
		<link>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/advance-nbsptranslated-by-jason-stumpf/</link>
		<comments>http://www.culturalsociety.org/texts/poems/advance-nbsptranslated-by-jason-stumpf/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2005 16:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Pura López-Colomé</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[poems]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.culturalsociety.org/?p=2116</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Eras move inside me in a putrid weave. Magic water, ars, scald me, cure me: let the ever-lasting, ever-opened wound behind. Memory, in you, is a projector of enabling light, precise moment. At the peak of anguish and fever, a maternal breeze comforts, is living calm: wild tiger, it calls me, do not stop to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Eras move inside me<br />
  in a putrid weave.<br />
  Magic water, <em>ars</em>,<br />
  scald me, cure me:<br />
  let the ever-lasting,<br />
  ever-opened<br />
  wound behind.<br />
</span></span></p>
<p class="style10"><em>Memory, in you, is a projector of enabling light,</em><br />
precise moment.</p>
<p class="style10">At the peak of anguish<br />
  and fever,<br />
  a maternal breeze<br />
  comforts, is <em>living</em> calm:<br />
  wild tiger, it calls me,<br />
  do not stop to think<br />
  of the distance.</p>
<p class="style10"><em>And you will never leave here</em>,<br />
  under this bright time<br />
  guards itself,<br />
  fears itself,<br />
  is scattering itself over the prairies.
</p>
<p class="style5"><span class="style9">Already, you are fire.<br />
  You will reach the moments of your beloved,<br />
  not his eternal youth<br />
  or Mediterranean salt,<br />
  his eyes.<br />
  The ivory caress, <em>mare magnum</em>,<br />
  will be loss of gestures and manners<br />
</br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
</br><br />
  <span class="style4">&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&bull;<br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  </br><br />
  <span class="style11">Avanza</span></span><font color="#333333"><font color="#660000"></p>
<p>  </font></font></p>
<p class="style10">Me bullen dentro eras<br />
  de un tejido descompuesto.<br />
  Agua m&aacute;gica, <em>ars</em>,<br />
  qu&eacute;mame, c&uacute;rame:<br />
  que atr&aacute;s quede la herida<br />
  siempreviva,<br />
  siempreabierta.
</p>
<p class="style10"><em>La memoria, en ti, es un reflector de luz activa,</em><br />
  momento justo.</p>
<p class="style10">En la cima de la angustia<br />
  y de la fiebre,<br />
  una brisa maternal<br />
  conforta, es calma<em> viva</em>:<br />
  tigre en libertad, dice,<br />
  no te detengas a pensar<br />
  en la distancia.</p>
<p class="style10"><em>Y nunca dejar&aacute;s de estar aqui</em>,<br />
  bajo este tiempo iluminado<br />
  que se guarda,<br />
  se teme,<br />
  se est&aacute; diseminando en las praderas.
</p>
<p class="style10">Ya eres fuego.<br />
  Alcanzar&aacute;s los instantes de tu amada,<br />
  no su eterna juventud,<br />
  su sal mediterr&aacute;nea,<br />
  sus ojos.<br />
  La caricia de marfil, <em>mare magnum</em>,<br />
ser&aacute; la falta de gestos y ademanes.</p>
<p> </p>
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