El vino en las cortinas Wine on the Curtains

El vino en las cortinas

Sábanas y crepúsculo.
Y vino en las cortinas.
 
¿Qué pasó? ¿Qué hora es?
 
Un vaho descompuesto
tiñe la boca de los vasos.
 
Esto es una deriva hirsuta
del tiempo, una vírgula
de ascetismo
en un tratado sobre libertinaje.
 
Y vino en las cortinas.
 
Y los zapatos mal encarados
al pie de la cama,
y el contrariado deseo
de una vida franciscana.
 
La boca seca, la mirada borrosa
presiden la miseria de este cuerpo
zarandeado.
 
Y el vino en las cortinas. 
 

Wine on the Curtains

Bedsheets and fading light. 
And wine on the curtains. 
 
What happened? What time is it? 
 
Sickly fumes stain
the mouths of the glasses. 
 
This is a hirsute slippage
of time, a rod
of asceticism 
in a treatise on debauchery. 
 
And wine on the curtains. 
 
And wayward shoes 
at the foot of the bed, 
and the thwarted desire 
for a Franciscan life. 
 
The dry mouth and the bleary eyes
preside over the misery of this
battered body. 
 
And the wine on the curtains. 
 

Wine on the Curtain

Sheets and twilight.
And wine on the curtains.
 
What happened? What time is it? 
 
A decomposed vapour
stains the lips of the glasses.
 
This is a hirsute drift of time,
a rod
of ascetism
in a treaty on debauchery.
 
And wine on the curtains.
 
And misplaced shoes
at the foot of the bed, 
and the dashed desire
for a franciscan life.
 
The dry mouth, the vague glance
Preside over the misery of this buffeted
Body.
 
And wine on the curtains.
 

Before we began trying to translate this poem, our guest translator Adam Feinstein shared some of the poet’s thoughts on it, explaining that the poem was about alcoholism and that he wanted it to convey a sense of being trapped.

We spent a lot of time thinking about the stanza beginning ‘This is a hirsute slippage / of time’. As Adam explained, Huerta is renowned for the unusual combinations of his adjectives and nouns. We discussed, at length, what a ‘hairy drift of time’ might be not finding it easy to imagine. But we decided its elusiveness as a metaphor was in keeping with the disorientation of the stanza and the implied viewpoint of someone potentially coming to consciousness after a heavy bout of drinking. We decided to retain the slightly obscure ‘hirsute’ as (in English) it offered a felicitous near-homonym to ‘hair-shirt’. The religious imagery of the work and explicit references to the ‘rod / of asceticism’ and ‘a Franciscan life’ encourage this train of association.

We also tried to convey the dizzying effect of the poem and ensure that human qualities and agency was given to the non-sentient throughout the poem (‘Sickly fumes’; ‘hirsute slippage / of time’; ‘wayward shoes’). The effect seemed to underscore the protagonist’s passive, imprisoned position.

Edward Doegar, Commissioning Editor

Original Poem by

David Huerta

Translated by

Adam Feinstein with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Spanish

Country

Mexico