Poblaciones Lejanas Far-Off Settlements

Poblaciones Lejanas

Sus relieves candentes, sus pasajes, son un salmo
luctuoso y monocorde;
los niños corren y gritan,
como pequeños lapsos, en un eterno, enmudecido
sepia demente. Hay ciudades, también,
que dulcifican la luz del sol:
En sus espejos de oro crepuscular las aguas abren y encienden
cercos de aromas y caricias rituales; en sus baños:
las risas, las paredes reverdecientes
-Sus templos beben del mar.
 
Vagos lindes desiertos (Las caravanas, los vendavales, las
noches combas y despobladas, las tardes lentas,son arenas franqueables que las separan) mirajes, ecos que las enturbian,
que las empalman;
un gusto líquido a sal en las furtivas comisuras;
Y esta evocada resonancia.
 

Far-Off Settlements

Their burning, hot-branded outlines, their inner pathways, are all a psalm
sung sad and monotonous;
children run and yell
like little blips, in never-ending quiet,
demented sepia. And there are also cities
which can make this sun’s light sweet:
In their dusky golden looking-glasses, water breaks, and lights up
those gathered sweet smells and old caresses; in the warm bathing-places:
the laughter, the walls turning green now once again.
– Their temples sip from the seas.
 
Ghostly city limits, wavering (The caravans, the strong south winds, the
over-arching nights with no-one there, the long afternoons –
what separates all these are the untrodden sands), mirages, echoes that
cloud them,that connect them;
a sly wet lick of salt in the corners of the mouth;
And this resonance, called forth.
 

Original Poem by

Coral Bracho

Translated by

Tom Boll with Katherine Pierpoint Language

Spanish

Country

Mexico