Now literary is a big word, but just because we have no university here doesn’t mean we can’t aspire. So here it is the debut column into the wondrous world of poetry. I’ll be featuring a poet a month with a brief bio and an example of their work. Our first poet is a native son, Octavio Paz.
Octavio was born in Mexico City in 1914 and died there in 1998. He lived, wrote and worked during that amazing period of artistic fecundity that encompassed the greats like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. He was an international diplomat, a prose writer and a poet.
Brotherhood
Homage to Claudius Ptolemy
I am a man: little do I last
and the night is enormous.
But I look up:
the stars write.
Unknowing I understand:
I too am written,
and at this very moment
someone spells me out.
Hermandad
Homenaje a Claudio Ptolomeo
Soy hombre: duro poco
y es enorme la noche.
Pero miro hacia arriba:
las estrellas escriben.
Sin entender comprendo:
también soy escritura
y en este mismo instante
alguien me deletrea.
From A Tree Within
Translated by Eliot Weinberger
During his lifetime Octavio formed several literary societies. Surely we can manage to form one here in Puerto Peñasco. Let’s gather; perhaps in one of our lovely coffee houses.
For info: m.diane.writeon@gmail.com
Great! Let’s have more poetry, especially from Mexican writers. Love the fact that the original (in Spanish of course) is included so those of us who speak and read some can enjoy it as written and, on a good day, do our own translatiion. Bravo!