Some Cuban Poems
War
All the planes returned to their bases.
But not all the men returned to their homes.
But not all the homes remained of those that returned.
But not all who returned found all in their homes.
(La Guerra by Manuel Diaz Martinez)
All the planes returned to their bases.
But not all the men returned to their homes.
But not all the homes remained of those that returned.
But not all who returned found all in their homes.
(La Guerra by Manuel Diaz Martinez)
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The Milky Way
From the purple sky falls tonight the milky way among the trees. Roving cats amber lamps bread wine all conceal a secret: the way is not lost in the fragile fog. It works like the stealthy spider like sailboats speeding away at night it does not stop my wistful reminiscing over the dust and spreading leaves. Snow will soon cover the blackened earth across the window I will see its stark purity, perhaps a dove will brush its wings past my window pane. Winter will be lovelier when your mysterious hair fills the white emptiness of my pillow. (La Via Lactea by Fayad Jamis) |
The Confusion
The worst is this confusion
of feeling within what cannot be explained
of keeping quiet when one must not
of losing one’s measure with the days
of an immutable self
against forces working to change
the life
the lips
the faces and compromises preplanned
of knowing oneself perpetually slipping
and being able to do nothing to change it
for the tyrannies and protests
are beyond our powers
and each word takes us further from the truth
and places us again at a crossing of ways.
(El Azoro by Armando Alvarez Bravo)
The worst is this confusion
of feeling within what cannot be explained
of keeping quiet when one must not
of losing one’s measure with the days
of an immutable self
against forces working to change
the life
the lips
the faces and compromises preplanned
of knowing oneself perpetually slipping
and being able to do nothing to change it
for the tyrannies and protests
are beyond our powers
and each word takes us further from the truth
and places us again at a crossing of ways.
(El Azoro by Armando Alvarez Bravo)
Love Songs from Bengal
When we were together
When we were together I didn’t quite know you But we were neither afraid nor ashamed And life was exciting You would call me at dawn Like a dear friend And we would race, laughing, Through fields and forests. The songs you sang then – Heaven knows what they meant – Made my heart sing And my world danced mad. The game is over, the sky is quiet, The sun and the moon soundless, The world stands still Humble, rapt in admiration. 
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Please stay
Please stay a bit more Do talk to me a little more. I know you have to go Don’t be so restless With that far-away look in your eyes. Did you get even a hint of What you came to hear from me The mute words That surge in my heart. When you are away My heart rings and rings With its secret message. When you are near me Your look leaves me wordless Like a mute and shiny star In the dark night of my soul. 
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You don’t say much
You speak a lot, but you don’t say much I have given up trying to understand you. You look at me, curious, you smile at me Searching for my inner thoughts I want to ward you off and I turn away. Tears have given me clarity I can see you so clear, but you can’t see me. Your mind is murky, unknown to you Unaware, you will let me down I want to ward you off and I turn away. |
When we broke
When we broke I thought I would never stop shedding tears. Then the grind of days wore away the florid memory I never knew when came the moment of oblivion. As years passed I learned to be unfeeling I felt sure I wouldn’t have to shed tears again. Then I suddenly saw you on the road I just couldn’t stop crying All my tears have been pooling all these years. |
(All songs by Rabindranath Thakur)
Poems from Paris
Paris at Night
Three matches in the night
lit one by one
The first to see your face in full
The second to see your eyes
The last to see your lips
With the darkness all around
to remind me of all these
as I hold you in my arms.
Three matches in the night
lit one by one
The first to see your face in full
The second to see your eyes
The last to see your lips
With the darkness all around
to remind me of all these
as I hold you in my arms.
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Breakfast
He put the coffee in the cup He put the milk in the cup of coffee He put the sugar in the coffee with milk He mixed with the spoon He drank the coffee And he put the cup back without a word to me 
He lit
a cigarette He made rings of smoke He put the ash in the ashtray Without a word to me Without a look at me He rose He put his hat on his head He put his raincoat because it was raining And he left in the rain Without a word Without a look at me And I took my head in my hands and I cried |
Jailer’s Song
Where are you going, dear jailer, with that blood-stained key I am going to release someone I love if there is still time Whom I locked up Tenderly, cruelly As the greatest secret of my desire As the height of my torment In the lies of the future In the folly of vows I am going to release her I want her to be free And even to forget me even to leave me even to come back and to love me again Or to love another If another pleases her And if I stay here alone And she leaves I will only keep I will always keep In the hollow of my two hands Until the end of days The softness of her breasts shaped by love. 
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(Three poems by Jacques Prévert)