agua
“Bajo la lluvia, bajo el olor, bajo todo lo que es una realidad
un pueblo se hace y se deshace dejando los testimonios”
La maldita circunstancia del agua por todas partes
me obliga a sentarme en la mesa del café.
Si no pensara que el agua me rodea como un cáncer
hubiera podido dormir a pierna suelta.
……………………….
La eterna miseria que es el acto de recordar.
Si tú pudieras formar de nuevo aquellas combinaciones,
devolviéndome el país sin el agua,
me la bebería toda para escupir al cielo.
…………………………
Aún flota en los arrecifes el uniforme del marinero ahogado.
Hay que saltar del lecho y buscar la vena mayor del mar para desangrarlo.
Me he puesto a pescar esponjas frenéticamente,
esos seres milagrosos que pueden desalojar hasta la última gota de agua
y vivir secamente.
………………………………….
Virgilio Piñera ~ “La isla en peso” fragmentos
(Poema fechado en 1943-1944)
Although Piñera wrote the poem The weight of the island to describe Cuba’s forced isolation during the revolution (the first line is translated as: The accursed circumstance of water all around…) the multiple tropical storms ravaging my endangered island with the force of a biblical deluge brought these verses back to memory .
Virgilio Piñera Llera (1912-1979) was a Cuban playwright and poet. Among his most famous poems are “La isla en peso” (1943), and “La gran puta” (1960). He was a member of the Origenes literary group although he often differed with the conservative views of the group. Due to Piñera’s social points of view and especially to his homosexuality, he was censured by Fidel Castro’s revolution, and died without any official recognition. A seminal author, today his work is revered throughout Latin America and he is considered a legend.
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Michèle Voltaire Marcelin is a poet/writer, performer and painter who was born and raised in Haiti, sojourned in Chile, and currently lives in the United States. The publication of her first novel “La Désenchantée” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2006) was followed by its Spanish translation “La Desencantada” and two other books of poetry and prose: “Lost and Found” and “Amours et Bagatelles” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2009) - translated into Spanish by Editorial ALBA as "Amores y cosas sin importancia" - all of which garnered rave reviews. Her writings are also featured in 3 anthologies published in France: "Cahier Haiti" (published by RAL'M-2009), "Terre de Femmes" (Editions Bruno Doucey-2011) "Revue Intranqu'îllités" (2012). She speaks and writes fluently French, English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. She has a BFA from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at CUNY and a Masters from The New School for Social Research.
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