To the new season/A la nueva temporada

Poema/Poem

by/por Rafael Jesús González

Consejo para el Equinoccio Otoñal

​Andar en equilibrio no es fácil --
         pisar tan ligeramente
         que la hierba no se doble,
         pisar tan firmemente
         que nuestra huella señale
         el camino por la maleza.

En verdad nuestra naturaleza parece
ser sin balance,
         un pie pisando tan ligeramente
         el otro tan firme
                  que perdidos en el desierto
                  siempre caminamos en círculo.

Hay peores destinos; entonces
aprendamos a caminar el círculo en gozo.
Las estaciones voltean y vuelven
y no hay a donde ir;
         la Tierra es hogar suficiente;
         el camino, demasiado breve,
         a nada nos lleva.

         Para aprender a andar en balance
                  practica el baile.

                          
Advice for the Fall Equinox

Walking in balance is not easy --
         to step so lightly
         the grasses are not bent,
         to step so firmly
         one’s track points
         a way through the thicket.

Indeed it seems our nature to be
off balance,
         one foot stepping so lightly
         one so firmly
                  that lost in the desert
                  we always walk in a circle.

There are worse fates; let us then
learn to walk the circle in joy.
The seasons turn & return
one upon the other
& there is nowhere to go;
         the Earth is Home enough;
         the walk, all too brief,
         leads Nowhere.

         To learn to walk in balance
                  practice the dance.

Rafael Jesús González, named in 2018 the first poet laureate of Berkeley, California, where he resides, is an internationally known poet and social justice activist. (© Rafael Jesús González 2018. First printed /publicado primeramente in/en: Raven Chronicles, Vol. 25, 2017; author's copyrights/derechos reservados del autor.)