Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986)

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--------------------Elogio del caos

--------------------------------a Jorge Luís Borges


El caos es ese todo que es la nada
pues siendo nada es en potencia todo.
Es ese principio inevitable de donde viene todo
que nace, florece, fructifica y va a la nada.

Es absoluto, eterno e infinito,
invariable, inmanifiesto, sin color
que aburriéndose de no tener color
se vuelve prisma para jugar el juego infinito.

Es ese espejo las ilusiones concretas de este mundo
que bordan tramas en la tela del abismo
para jugar a escondidas con el abismo
que penetra, sostiene, apoya e informa al mundo.

Es ilusión que yo te de la mano
como ilusión el fondo de un espejo
pero es inocurrente dudar de un espejo
y es indisputable el roce de tu mano.

No hay en realidad significado alguno
(es una realidad invariable, infinita y absoluta)
mas la idea de algo que yo llame absoluto
arbitrariamente sin tolerar desprecio alguno.

Y siendo así, lo único que te salva del ubicuo caos
es el capricho de mi voluntad infirme
para colocarte en una ilusión que aunque infirme
te consagra en otra cosa para el mundo, juego del caos.




--------------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011


(Círculo de poesía 9; Roberto Bianchi, director; aBrace editor,
Montevideo, Uruguay 2008; derechos reservados del autor)




Fenóneno, Remedios Varo


-------------------------Elegy of Chaos

------------------------------------to Jorge Luís Borges


Chaos is that all that is nothing
for being nothing it is in potential all.
It is that inevitable beginning from which comes all
that births, blooms, fruits & goes to nothing.

It is absolute, eternal, and infinite,
invariable, not manifest, colorless
that growing bored of being colorless
becomes prism to play the infinite.

It is that mirror of concrete illusions that is this world
that embroider weaves in the cloth of the abyss
to play hide-and-seek with the abyss
that penetrates, sustains, supports, & informs the world.

It is illusion that I give you my hand
as is illusion the depths of a mirror
but it is unimaginable to doubt a mirror
& indisputable is the brush of your hand.

In reality there is no meaning at all
(it is a reality invariable, infinite, & absolute)
but the idea of something that I call absolute
arbitrarily without tolerating any scorn at all.

& so being, the only thing to save you from ubiquitous chaos
is the whim of my will so weak
to place you in an illusion that though weak
consecrates you as another thing in the world, play of chaos.



---------------------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011




Sunday, August 21, 2011

Virgo

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----------------Virgo

La virgen,
pura como una gota de azogue,
en la cintura un cinturón de zafiros,
reina sobre la tierra mudable.
-------La vigila Mercurio
mientras ella ordena cuidadosamente
las cuentas de cornerina, de sardónice
----en la calma de la noche plena.



-----------© Rafael Jesús González 2011




--------------Virgo

The virgin,
pure as a drop of quicksilver,
girdled with sapphires,
reigns over the changing earth.
-------Mercury watches her
as she carefully orders
the beads of carnelian, of sardonyx
-----in the calm of full night.




-----------© Rafael Jesús González 2011
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Saturday, August 13, 2011

full moon: Jin Shengten & the Moon


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---Jin Shengten* y la luna

El joven Shengten dijo
que escribía sus poemas
poseído por la Diosa
de la Benévola Luna.

Mirando la luna
del pabellón de cualquier
de los jardines de Suzhou
seguramente inspiraría
tal locura.

Años más tarde
¿lo poseería también
a hablar contra
los oficiales corruptos
y por ello perder la cabeza?

Muy bien pudiera haber
cosas mucho peores
que la benévola luna inspire
que el escribir de poemas
y decir la verdad ante el poder.





------© Rafael Jesús González 2011


(*Muerto hace 350 años el 7 de agosto
por haber denunciado a corruptos
oficiales de la corte imperial)







---Jin Shengten* & the Moon


Young Shengten said
he wrote his poems
possessed by the Goddess
of the Benevolent Moon.

Viewing the moon
from the pavilion of any
of the gardens of Suzhou
would surely inspire
such lunacy.

Years later, could she
have possessed him, too,
to speak out against
the corrupt officials
& lose his head for it?

There may very well be
far worse things
the benevolent moon inspires
than the writing of poems
& speaking truth to power.




------© Rafael Jesús González 2011


(*Executed 350 years ago August 7
for speaking out against corrupt
officials of the Imperial Court.)




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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Nagasaki, August 9, 1945

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Let us keep a moment of silence for Nagasaki which, three days after Hiroshima , sixty-six years ago was victim of a nuclear bomb. Never, ever must we allow this to happen again.




Cranes Fly for Peace Tanka


A girl in Japan
taught the world to fold paper
cranes — still there is war.
Blessings written on their wings,
oh, paper cranes, fly for peace.



---------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011



tanka Grullas vuelen por la paz


Una niña en Japón
le enseñó al mundo doblar grullas
de papel — aun hay guerra.
Bendiciones escritas en sus alas
¡O garzas de papel! vuelen por la paz.



-------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011

(to make an origami crane)

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Saturday, August 6, 2011

Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

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It was on this day in 1945, sixty-six years ago, that the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, another on Nagasaki. We must never let it happen again; we must work for complete nuclear disarmament throughout the world.



-----------------------------------Andreas Bauer




Origami Crane Tanka


It's said that if you
fold one-thousand paper cranes
your wish will come true.
For peace I would gladly spend
the rest of my days folding.


-----------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011


Tanka de Grulla Origami


Se dice que si
doblas mil grullas de papel
tu deseo se te concederá.
Por la paz felizmente me pasaría
el resto de mis días doblando.



------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011




Tanka de Garça Origami


Se dizes que sim
dobras mil garças de papel
e te desejo se realizará.
pela paz, feliz, eu passaria
o resto de meus dias dobrando.



------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2011

------------------------------------ -traducción al portugués por

---------------------------- ------© Clevane Pessoa 2008


In June of 1983, imprisoned in Santa Rita Prison because of blocking the entrance of Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, California, where nuclear arms are designed, we occupied ourselves folding cranes from old newspapers; among us all, we made more than a thousand to send to Japan.



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