I Blindfolded…

 

I blindfolded the trees
With a green scarf
And asked the trees to catch me.
And the trees caught me forthwith

With an outburst of laughing leaves.

 

I blindfolded the birds

With a scarf of clouds

And asked the birds to catch me.

 

And the birds caught me

With their song.

 

I blindfolded my sorrow

With a smile,

And the following day my sorrow caught me

Deep in some love of mine.

 

I blindfolded the sun

With my own nights

And told the sun to catch me.

 

“It’s plain you’re over there,” said the sun,

“Behind your time,

Stop hiding from the truth.”

 

“Stop hiding from the truth,”

Told me all those things

And all those feelings

I’d vainly attempted

To blindfold.

 

Caprice

 Each eveningI summon up all the availableChairs in the neighbourhoodAnd read out my verses to them. The chairs reveal themselvesMost receptive at poetry,If you are keen on setting them up. That’s whyI become deeply moved,And for several hoursI find myself narratingHow exquisitely my soul has withered awayDuring its diurnal courses. All our gatheringsAbide by solemnity,Without supererogatoryFits of frenzy. In the last analysis,It means that each of usHas done a thing of consequence,So we are allowed to pursueOur diverging views.

 

From Nature

 

We sometimes draw inspiration from nature

While our muse is combing her hair

We’ve made love poems for too long,

Lying next to nature,

Like the coffee lying next to the sugar,

Like the sleep lying next to the dream –

That’s how I feel when sleeping

With you on my mind.

If it were on Mars – or the red planet –

Not to be confused with the month of March –

So let me say it again, in March,

If only this corner of the garden

Were high up in the sky –

The scientists would give outbursts of enthusiasm.

At least this hedge

On which there has spread

A cobweb, captivating

Tens of dew beads, the very way

My verse captures tens, hundreds, thousands,

Of reflections from your eyes

Making them shine for everyone in sight…

 

English version by Gabriela PACHIA