Volcanic Reflections: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Ecuadorian Poetry
by
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DOS SERES HAY EN MI QUE SE COMBATEN No te amo a veces y otras, te idolatro. Dos seres hay en mí que se combaten: quien vislumbra en tu cuerpo el paraíso y quien, infierno torvo en tus quebrantos. Porque me colma sólo lo infinito, condenado me encuentro a amarte siempre. Y para que nunca exista sin quererte, me empecino en no amarte todavía. Así, te amo y no te amo, pero me enamoro más y más del cabello huracanado y el resplandor de espadas de tus muslos. Estoy apasionado, y te recelo: por eso te amo si no estás conmigo y si lo estás, reniego y ya no te amo. * * * * TWO BEINGS IN ME IN COMBAT At times I don’t love you, other times I adore you. There are two beings in combat within me: one who glimpses paradise in your body, another who sees a menacing hell in your sorrows. Because I’m favored only by the infinite, I am always condemned to loving you. And so that I never exist without loving you, I stubbornly don’t love you yet. So, I love you and I don’t, but I fall more and more in love with your hurricane-blown hair and with the sword-like radiance of your thighs. I am passionate, and I am leery: that’s why I love you if you are not with me; and if you are, I renounce and no longer love you. Efraín Jara Idrovo ******************************************* LA OFRENDA DEL CEREZO (VII) Contemplo al cerezo en su milagro. Florece. Y aunque me embriaga su aroma, no estaré aquí para probar sus frutos. Mi vida depende del cerezo apenas mientras dure este instante. Un blanco manto que cae y se mece, un fresco olor, mi júbilo. Me iré en unos minutos. Mi vida no depende del cerezo. Y sin embargo irá el fantasma del árbol conmigo para siempre. * * * * THE OFFERING OF THE CHERRY TREE (VII) I contemplate the cherry tree in its miracle. It flowers. And although its aroma intoxicates me, I will not be here to savor its fruit. My life hardly depends upon the cherry tree while this instant lasts. A white mantle that falls and swings, a fresh smell, my joy. I will leave in a few minutes. My life does not depend on the cherry tree. And nevertheless the ghost of the tree will accompany me forever. Iván Carvajal ************************************* no quiero contarle a mis años esta novedad de no ser más que una palabra que simplifica los sarcasmos en una gaveta de sorpresas no quiero contarle a mis años de este círculo engendrado en una tierra vagabunda en un muelle inconsistente ni las profecías me conmueven a contarle a mis años lo que no me pertenece. * * * * At this stage in my life, I refuse to recount this bit of news unless it’s only one word that simplifies the sarcasms in a drawer full of surprises At this stage, I don’t want to tell about this circle engendered in a vagabond land on an unstable pier not even prophecies move me to tell about what doesn’t belong to me at this stage in my life. Maritza Cino Alvear *************************************** ENTRE ZAPATILLAS Y TULES Se vende la bailarina rota de mi caja musical, se vende la música completa de mi celeste bailarina. Se vende el único diente con el que muerden —por turnos estrictos— tres tristes viejas metidas en un lagrimal. Se vende el pez que no murió por su boca, porque fue uno de los cientos que se le fueron volando a quien, queriendo abarcar mucho, poco apretó a ese brillante corazón azul que por otro lado había sido el único realmente humeante dentro de su bola mágica. Se venden soldaditos de pecho para niños de plomo, se venden botones para caballeros de tagua y medias al mayoreo para señoritas de seda. Se vende una peineta perteneciente a una antigua doncella de carey (que después fuera una dama de prestigio, luego de que montara un negocio en el que alquilaba antifaces para aventuras de fantasía y trajes de amplios pliegues para bailes de tafetán). Se permuta un lote de porcelana fina por un loto de cristal que esté imperceptiblemente rajado. Se vende la bailarina rota de mi caja musical, apenas le faltan tres sonidos y algo de su vestido de tul que se le fue flotando. * * * * * BETWEEN SLIPPERS AND TULLE The broken ballerina of my music box is for sale, the complete music of my celestial ballerina is for sale. For sale: the only tooth for chewing —strictly by turns— among three sad old ladies enclosed in the corner of an eye. For sale: the fish that didn’t die by its mouth, because it was one of hundreds that went flying off from the one who wanted to bite off a lot, and bit just a little on that brilliant blue heart the one that, on the other hand, had been the only one really steaming inside the magic ball. For sale: little breast-fed soldiers for lead children, For sale: buttons for ivory-nut gentlemen and wholesale stockings for young ladies of silk. For sale: an ornamental comb belonging to an old tortoise-shelled maid (who later became a prestigious lady, after having started a business in which she rented out masks for adventures of fantasy and costumes of ample pleats for taffeta dances). For exchange: a set of fine porcelain for a crystal lotus that is imperceptibly scratched. The broken ballerina of my music box is for sale, only three sounds are missing and a bit of her tulle dress that floated away from her. Sonia Manzano *************************************************** Translations by Ronald Haladyna
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About the Book
Volcanic Reflections: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Ecuadorian Poetry is the third in a series of books that aspires to address a dearth of information in the English-speaking world about South American poetry of the past thirty years. The nineteen outstanding poets included here represent a wide diversity of themes, styles, and perspectives in one of South America’s smaller nations. All of them have published extensively, have been recognized through literary awards and inclusion in national and international anthologies, and continue writing and publishing today. For readers unfamiliar with Ecuador, the Introduction provides a brief background of its geography, history, politics, economy, and society. This is followed by an ample selection of representative poems published previously in Spanish, with translations in English on facing pages. The book concludes with a brief biographical sketch of each poet and an unprecedented bibliography of primary and secondary sources for those readers who might want to pursue further reading or research on any poet of interest. Contemporary Uruguayan Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology and Exotic Territory: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Paraguayan Anthology are two companion volumes that offer similar exposure to poetry that deserves to be better known in the English-speaking world.
About the Author
Ronald Haladyna is professor emeritus of Spanish at Ferris State University; author of Rescatando la poesía paraguaya: diez ensayos sobre nueve poetas (1998); La poesía postmoderna mexicana (1999); editor of Contemporary Uruguayan Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology (2010), and Exotic Territory: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Paraguayan Poetry (2011).