Las manos en el agua de la mente Hands in the Water of the Mind

Las manos en el agua de la mente

El agua de la mente     se ha llenado de formas.
El agua, como el humo,     se transforma y se esconde.
 
Ven, acércate ahora,     con un deslizamiento
de anémona o medusa,     de criminal, de santo;
 
mete la mano y saca     del agua estremecida
ángulos y perfiles,     una incesante música,
 
el murmullo del cielo,     la boca de la tierra,
la copa de la brisa,     los anillos del fuego,
 
el cuerpo de los linces,     las alas del murciélago,
los vasos y la almohada,     el resplandor del hambre. 
 

Hands in the Water of the Mind

 The water of the mind     has filled with forms.
The water, like smoke,     transforms and hides. 
 
Come, come closer now,    elusive as
an anemone or a jellyfish     a criminal, a saint; 
 
dip your hand in and pull    from the tormented water
angles and profiles,         an incessant music, 
 
the murmur of the sky,     the mouth of the earth, 
the crown of the breeze,     the rings of fire, 
 
the bodies of the lynxes,     the wings of the bat, 
the glasses and the pillow,     the brightness of hunger. 
 

Hands in the Water of the Mind

The water of the mind     has filled with forms.
The water, like smoke,     changes and hides.
 
Come closer now,     sliding
like an anemone or a jellyfish,     a criminal, a saint;
 
dip your hand in and pull           from the agitated water
angles and profiles,     an incessant music,
 
the murmur of the sky,     the mouth of the earth,
the crown of the breeze,     rings of fire,
 
the body of lynxes,     the wings of a bat,
the glasses and the pillow,     the radiance of hunger.
 

This was the second Huerta poem that the workshop worked on with guest translator Adam Feinstein. The second stanza offered us the most discussion (as we tried to finish the translation in time). We quickly decided to emphasise the address (‘Come, come closer now’) but struggled to find a mode of movement appropriate to an anenome, a jellyfish, a criminal and a saint. The bridge translation suggested ‘sliding’ and we considered various plays on ‘slipperiness’ but didn’t want the judgemental overtones to decide the matter between ‘criminal’ and ‘saint’. We finally decided to render this elusive phrase as ‘elusive as / …’

Edward Doegar, Commissioning Editor

Original Poem by

David Huerta

Translated by

Adam Feinstein with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Spanish

Country

Mexico