Sweet stranger

Fist against my heart

and a long, deep humble bow

for you, sweet stranger.

Home (to Leonie & Adam, and to you as well).

Our home,

it’s not out there

it’s not in the promise

of lucky numbers

or of random lottery tickets,

nor in the pretty words

of a skillful house seller.

Our home is not made

of the things that we own

under the roof

and between the bricks

that we share,

it's not in the things

that we bought for each other,

nor in all the money

that we can save or spare.

Our home is under the sun

and in those five lines

we drew as children;

it's in the loving shelter 

we then offered

to our imaginary friend,

and to the lost pet

we once found and kept,

hoping to never part ways.

My home is with you,

and yours is with me,

my family, my comrade,

my neighbour, my lover;

and with you too, 

kind stranger.

Even if we had to spend

long nights under a cold bridge

or if we fell asleep

under an ancient tree,

our home is in us,

mine in you, yours in me,

as we rest safely

in each other’s arms.

'Aspirante equilibrista' (To Elenia, who inspired the title and the thought).

If in order to test your sense of equilibrium you would walk on a long high cable hung between two skycrapers, don't look down: the harmony and beauty of chaos will leave you in awe and you might as well feel like jumping.

The path is now

My death will not be long enough to give sufficient rest to the sufferings I’ve had in this life.   Before a new day breaks in or an old day fades away, I will be in the seed that soon anounces the birth of a baby boy or a baby girl.  Again, I will get another chance to learn from old sorrows, and to seek and find true happiness throughout the endless line of life.  But before dying this time and crawling again some day, I’d better make sure  that I sketch my future path graciously and righteously;  now when I can still walk firmly, with clear eyes and loving hands, and a heart full of faith.

To my very soul mate, wherever you might be -

A thousand lives back,

the silence of which I speak

has always, always loved you.

A million blue moons ahead of now

undoubtely, I will,

I will always love you.

Even at this moment,

when I still might not know 

the shape of your lips;

even when I still

might not have heard

the sound of your name,

my love is not at all still!

It beats for you in silence

and misses you warmingly,

my love, my very soul mate

wherever you might be.

En la Casa de la Cui'tura (inspirado en el Mae'tro Cabral, QEPD) - (With English translation)

Con la lengua ardiente como un dragón,
ebrio de barato vino tinto,
escupiendo a quemaduras,
gritaba el Mae'tro Cabral:
A mí no me manden a callai', COñO,
que la poesía se hizo PA'BLAI'LA!

In the House of Culture (inspired in the  'Master Cabral' RIP)

With his tongue hot as a dragon,
drunk on cheap red wine,
spitting burning fire,
Mae'tro Cabral shouted:

Don't tell me to shut up, COñO,
that poetry was made to be SPOKEN OUT LOUD!

Haiku voor de mist (with English translation). Also for Wendy.

Wat zoek jij? vroeg hij, | de blinde die alles ziet | met zijn bloot gevoel.

 

What do you seek? he asked, | the blind who sees all | with his bare feeling

Welcoming winter (double haiku, and a single poem). For Wendy, who triggered the inspiration.

The mist ahead chills | every effort of sight. | My eyes close in faith, | as i walk the path, | fearless of the blind future, | i beckon the clouds.

Para Patricia Pereryra - la artista dominicana que más adoro (with English translation)

Eres diosa humana,

diosa de poesía, de canto.

Y cuando hablas, tu voz recoge

el aliento de ultratumbas,

el cual sin esfuerzo respiras

dándole cobijo 

en tu profunda garganta.

Y entonces,

cuando cantas, diosa humana

el universo revela

lo que aún no sabía cierto

En sus entrañas;

y en las tuyas

se engendra en unísono,

otra canción de esperanza,

la cual persigo

con este simple poema,

anhelando escuchar tu parto

de melodías infinitas,

otra y otra vez.

(si quieres escuchar a Patricia, pulsa en este enlace  Patricia Pereyra, cantando El Mandala).

You are a human goddess,
goddess of poetry, of chanting.
And when you speak, your voice gathers
the breath beyond the graves,
which you breathe effortlessly
giving it shelter
in the depths of your throat.

And then
when you sing, human goddess
the universe reveals
what it still did not know was certain.

In her womb;
and in yours
in unison,
another song of hope is conceived,
which I pursue
with this simple poem,
longing to hear you giving birth
to infinite melodies,

over and over again.

If you want to listen to Patricia, the Dominican artist I adore the most, click on this link Patricia Pereyra singing El Mandala