Category: Surrealism

Sueño del insomnio

7/16/2021

Excerpts from
Sueño del insomnio /
Dream of Insomnia

by Isaac Goldemberg

PAZ
El soñador despierta
mientras duerme
con la mirada fija
en el techo del sueño.
Confía en el espíritu
que promete el triunfo
en la derrota.
Hace lo menos útil
para seguir con vida.
Calla lo que nunca tose
en su garganta.
Come aire,
nunca la solidez del alimento.
Despierta en lo mas profundo
de sus ojos.
En la superficie
la tierra se ha hundido,
están abiertos sus espacios
y ya obrando.
El soñador se cruza de brazos,
la muerte es suave
y alimenta.
Es mejor no despertar,
el mundo real
invita al sueño
y la paz se esfuma
en su carroza blanca.

PEACE
The dreamer wakes
while he sleeps
with his gaze fixed
on the ceiling of the dream.
He trusts the spirit
that promises triumph
in defeat.
He does what is least useful
to keep alive.
He silences what never coughs
in his throat.
He eats air,
never the solidity of nourishment.
He wakes in the deep end
of his eyes.
The earth has sunk
on its surface,
the spaces are open
and already working.
The dreamer crosses his arms,
death is soft
and nourishing.
It’s better not to wake up,
the real world
invites to sleep
and peace vanishes
in its white hearse.

SEÑALES
El soñador cruza
los desiertos prometidos,
los bosques oscuros.
Las lluvias de fuego
golpean su féretro
alumbrando
el silencio,
endureciendo
el espíritu
como una señal.
El espacio
es la boca del lobo,
y los dioses del humano
callan sus lenguas.
Delante de las llanuras,
detrás de los bosques,
las ruinas exhuberantes,
el aire y los golpes
del lejano templo,
las escamas del pez,
la piedra apagada,
el altar del sacrificio
supremo.
El soñador ignora
a dónde va y por qué.
Ignora las formas
de los escondites
y el arte
de las travesías sin fin.
El pasado lo hunde.
El soñador va
envuelto en la luz.
Con el día
y su falta de fe
se alzan los astros
sobre él.

SIGNS
The dreamer crosses
the promised deserts,
the dark woods.
The rains of fire
strike his coffin
lighting up
the silence,
hardening
the spirit
like a sign.
Space
is the mouth of the wolf,
and the gods of the human
hold their tongues.
In front of the plains,
behind the woods,
the exuberant ruins,
the air and the blows
of the distant temple,
the scales of the fish,
the lifeless stone,
the altar of the supreme
sacrifice.
The dreamer does not know
where he is going or why.
He does not know the shapes
of the hiding places
or the art
of endless crossings.
The past sinks him.
The dreamer is
shrouded in light.
With the day
and his lack of faith
the stars rise
above him.

DESAPARICIONES
El soñador
penetra
en la velocidad
de la luz
y sus manos
se aferran otra vez
a los instrumentos
del viaje.
El planeta no prometido,
los negros espacios
del invierno sideral
lloran en pie de guerra,
la desconfianza
hace olvidar
el venidero fervor
de la batalla.
El soñador
ignora los bienes
de la tierra olvidada,
ahora estrecha,
los meridianos quebrados
y su mansa aridez,
desprovista
de lo conocido.
El día se aleja de él
con sus sucias sombras.
No siente la apertura
en el centro espacial,
no pierde el aliento
ante la magnitud
del misterio.
El soñador ama la vida
entre graves jadeos
y dulces maldiciones
de lo por venir.

DISAPPEARANCES
The dreamer
penetrates
the speed
of light
and his hands
grasp once more
the instruments
of the voyage.
The planet not promised,
the black spaces
of sidereal winter
weep up in arms,
the distrust
makes them forget
the oncoming fervor
of the battle.
The dreamer
does not know the goods
of the forgotten earth,
now narrow,
the broken meridians
and the gentle aridity,
devoid
of the known.
The day moves away from him
with its dirty shadows.
He does not feel the opening
at the center of space,
he does not lose his breath
at the magnitude
of the mystery.
The dreamer loves life
in between severe panting
and the sweet curses
to come.

Isaac Goldemberg was born in Peru in 1945 and has lived in New York since 1964. He is the author of four novels, a collection of short fiction, thirteen collections of poetry
and three plays. His most recent publications are Libro de reclamaciones (Palma de Mallorca, 2018), Philosophy and Other Fables (New York, 2016), Dialoghi con me e con i miei altri/Diálogos conmigo y mis otros (Rome, 2015), and Remember the Scorpion (Los Angeles, 2015). He is also the author of El gran libro de América judía (The Great Book of Jewish America, a 2240-page anthology, 1998). In 1995 his novel The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner was selected by a committee of writers and literary critics as one of the best 25 Peruvian novels of all times and in 2001 a panel of international scholars convened by the National Yiddish Book Center chose it as one of the 100 greatest Jewish books of the last 150 years. His work has been translated into several languages and included in numerous anthologies in Latin America, Europe and the United States. He has received the following awards, among
others: the Nuestro Fiction Award (1977), the Nathaniel Judah Jacobson Award (1996), the Estival Theater Award (2003), the Luis Alberto Sánchez Essay Award (2004), the Order of Don Quijote (2005), the Tumi Excellence Award (2014), and the P.E.N. Club of Peru Poetry Award (2015). In 2014, the House of Peruvian Literature in Lima, presented “Tiempos y Raíces” (Times and Roots), a Homage/Exhibition devoted to his life and works.

Isaac Goldemberg nació en Chepén, Perú, en 1945 y reside en Nueva York desde 1964. Ha publicado cuatro novelas, un libro de relatos, trece de poesía y tres obras de
teatro. Sus publicaciones más recientes son Libro de reclamaciones (Palma de Mallorca, 2018), Philosophy and Other Fables (Nueva York, 2016), Dialoghi con me e con i miei altri/Diálogos conmigo y mis otros (Roma, 2015) y Remember the Scorpion (Los Ángeles, 2015). Es autor también de El gran libro de América judía (antología de 2240 páginas, 1998). En 1995 su novela La vida a plazos de don Jacobo Lerner fue
considerada por un comité de escritores y críticos literarios como una de las mejores novelas peruanas de todos los tiempos; y en el 2001 fue seleccionada por un jurado
internacional de críticos literarios convocado por el Yiddish Book Center de Estados Unidos como una de las 100 obras más importantes de la literatura judía mundial de
los últimos 150 años. Su obra ha sido sido traducida a varios idiomas e incluida en numerosas antologías de América Latina, Europa y los Estados Unidos. Ha recibido,
entre otros, el Premio Nuestro de Novela (1977), el Premio Nathaniel Judah Jacobson (1996), el Premio Estival de Teatro (2003), el Premio de Ensayo Luis Alberto Sánchez
(2004), la Orden de Don Quijote (2005), el Premio Tumi a la Excelencia (2014) y el Premio de Poesía del P.E.N. Club del Perú (2015). En 2014, la Casa de la Literatura Peruana en Lima, presentó “Tiempos y Raíces”, una Exhibición/Homenaje dedicada a su vida y obra.

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“Ubiquitous bovine” and other poems

5/1/2021

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Four Poems by Steve Castro

Ubiquitous bovine

The three Customer Only parking spaces were already taken up, so I had to park on the street. I can understand a couple of those spaces being taken up by vehicles, but the third parking spot being taken up by an air conditioning unit was beyond strange. We entered the antique shop and went about looking at various curiosities. “That's a beautiful bird,” I told my mother. “That's a cow,” she replied. It was a beautiful painting nonetheless, I thought. I then saw myriad of books for one dollar each at booth #318. I bought five of them. When we walked out of the antique shop, I had my five crime and science fiction novels in tow when I saw an air conditioning unit backing out of the parking space I coveted. I wonder where it's going?, I thought as my mom suddenly said, “Look, a cow is leaving that parking space you so loved.”

Conejo y Gallo

My roommate placed the dead rabbit on the marble table.
He then poured gasoline on the conejo and was about to light it on fire,
when our landlord suddenly materialized right in front of us.
“Don't you ever knock?” I asked.
“Who needs to knock when I have the master key,” he replied.
“How can we help you?” I asked.
“Rent is due today, plus that rabbit belongs to me.”
“You stole our prized rooster,” my roommate replied.
The landlord took a miniature red rooster out of his coat pocket,
and set it on the marble table.
“Should I pour gasoline on el gallito and set it on fire?” the landlord asked.
“You should drown it in the bathtub,” the dead rabbit suggested.
The three humans nodded in agreement.
The rabbit smiled. The rooster wept.

Alegria por todo lado

I prefer happy poems
like a corpse wearing a
Smile, it’s Contagious t-shirt.

A body crawling with ants
is most likely made out of sugar.
A body made out of sugar
can be easily disposed of at a coffee shop
without anyone being the wiser.

I once met a vegetarian
with a drawer full of steak knives
and a fridge full of bison steaks.
“Temptation is a dish best served often,” I said.
“Not today Satan,” the vegetarian replied.
“Amen,” I said in agreement.
I then offered him a sugar cube,
which he placed under his tongue.
In turn, he offered me a bison steak,
which made me so incredibly happy
because we surrealist poets know that bison
are the happiest of God’s earthly creatures.

L & S

“Your name is Stephen? I thought your name was Adrian.”

“Adrian is my liquid name,” I said.

Complete silence like a room full of dead mannequins.
The person left the room without saying another word.

Blood is my favorite liquid. Mainly because I see it
so often in my favorite painting at the local museum.

Everyone who has called me Adrian has drowned.
My birth name was given to me by God,
but not in the way you think, but in the way God thinks.

I once met an old man with a very solid handshake.
“He must have an incredible solid name,” I thought.
“Your name wouldn't happen to be Peter?” I asked.
He walked away without saying a word, denying me an answer.

Steve Castro was born in San José, Costa Rica in 1977. He resides in Evansville, Indiana. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from The American University in Washington, D.C. His debut poetry collection, Blue Whale Phenomena, was published by Otis Books (Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA) in 2019. A number of his online publications can be found on linktr.ee/ThePoetryEngineer.

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POETRY
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Sueño del insomnio

Excerpts from
Sueño del insomnio /
Dream of Insomnia

“Ubiquitous bovine” and other poems

Four Poems by Steve Castro

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POETRY​POESÍA

Sueño del insomnio

Excerpts fromSueño del insomnio / ​Dream of Insomnia

“Ubiquitous bovine” and other poems

Four Poems by Steve Castro

Archives

Categories

HOME INICIO

​ABOUT SOBRE

SUBMIT ENVIAR

​SUPPORT ​APOYAR

Donate and Make Literature Happen

POETRY
POESÍA

Excerpts from
Sueño del insomnio /
Dream of Insomnia

ABOUT SOBRE

SUPPORT
APOYAR