POET OF THE WEEK
Enmanuel R. Arjona
Week of September 11
141/365
MI CUERPO DE AGUA
Mi cuerpo de agua
Se evapora con la brisa
Se condensa, se acumula
Cae del cielo en lagrimitas.
Corre libre por los ríos
Cascadas y raudales
Duerme entre los lagos
Y juega en manantiales.
Ya cansado de viajar
Impaciente en tierras bajas
Se filtra sigiloso
A descansar en aguas calmas.
MI CUERPO DE AGUA
Mi cuerpo de agua
Se evapora con la brisa
Se condensa, se acumula
Cae del cielo en lagrimitas.
Corre libre por los ríos
Cascadas y raudales
Duerme entre los lagos
Y juega en manantiales.
Ya cansado de viajar
Impaciente en tierras bajas
Se filtra sigiloso
A descansar en aguas calmas.
MY BODY OF WATER
My body of water
Evaporates in the breeze
Condenses, accumulates
Falls from the sky in little tears.
Runs free through the rivers
Waterfalls and rapids
Sleeps among the lakes
And plays in hot springs.
Weary of its travels now
Impatient in the low lands
It slips out discreetly
To sleep in calmer waters.
Enmanuel R. Arjona 31, Seattle
Translated from Spanish by Martin Boyd
TRANSLATE THIS POEM
FAVORITE POEM Impossible—I like too many. But the first poem I obsessed over as a child was “Sonatina” by Ruben Dario.
WRITING LIKE WATER A drop can be part of a small pond or of the most furious of rivers; it can give life or it can take.
EARLY WATER MEMORY In my house where all the clothes were washed, I liked to watch the water fall.
EXPLORE MORE
Amharic | birth | blessing | Chinese | drought and thirst | family | home | if water could speak | Indigenous | justice | like water | local waters | love and loss | Lushootseed | memory | Northgate | oceans and seas | Punjabi | rain | rivers and lakes | Russian | Spanish | sweat and tears | swim | Tlingit | toilets and taps | transit | Vietnamese | we are water | wildlife | Youth
