Sunday, February 21, 2010

Piscis

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-------------
-----------------Piscis


El par de peces nada
entre cristales de amatistas,
entre peñas de heliotropo —
----la luz de Júpiter les llega
----como un reflejo en estaño;
Neptuno perezosamente los vigila.
Si vadeas en las aguas inconstantes,
los verás a tus pies
nadar como imágenes de sueños,
-------pacíficos,
------------------benévolos.



--------------© Rafael Jesús González 2010




----------------Pisces

The pair of fish swim
among amethyst crystals,
among boulders of bloodstone —
---the light of Jupiter comes to them
---like reflections on tin;
---Neptune lazily watches.
If you wade in the inconstant water,
you will see them at your feet
swimming like the images of dreams,
-----peaceful,
----------------kind.



--------------© Rafael Jesús González 2010

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Mardi Gras

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Carnaval

Antigua fiesta pagana, griega, romana, la dionisíaca, las saturnales, las bacanales celebrando la igualdad entre los hombres, las mujeres, celebrando la embriaguez del estar vivos, el festejo del cuerpo y del alma.

Ahora se le llama carnaval (carne vale) porque es despedida a la carne antes de que se le mortifique durante la cuaresma. Se celebra la carne, los apetitos del cuerpo, sensuales, libres de mandamientos y prohibiciones.

Por eso el antifaz, la máscara que tras el anonimato nos da licencia para romper las reglas, por un momento vivir fantasías. Tras el antifaz, la máscara, una persona aun puede desnudarse y bailar por las calles. Persona, del latín significando máscara, especialmente cuando se lleva en la escena. Y ¿qué es la vida sino diversión de los dioses?

Entonces quitémonos las máscaras del corazón y pongámonoslas sobre la cara si tal es preciso para ser libre, y en vez del rosario, digamos las cuentas de carnaval.

Carnival

Ancient, pagan, Greek, Roman feast, the Dionysia, the Saturnalia, the Bacchanalia celebrating the equality among men, women, celebrating the intoxication of being alive, the celebration of the body and the soul.

Now it is called carnival (carne vale), Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), because it is the farewell to flesh before it is mortified during lent. Flesh is celebrated, the appetites of the body, sensual, free of commandments and prohibitions.

Thus the mask which behind anonymity gives us license to break the rules, live fantasies for a moment. Behind the mask a person may even undress and dance naked in the streets. Person from the Latin meaning mask, especially when worn on the stage. And what is life but the diversion of the gods?

Let us take the masks from the heart and put them on the face if such is needed to be free, and instead of the rosary, let us say the carnival beads.
-----Cuentas de carnaval


De las calles
de Nueva Orleáns
--------en pleno carnaval,
me llamaste;
tu voz un hilo
----de cuentas lustrosas
verdes,
---------doradas,
-------------------púrpuras
me engalanó de encanto
y me hizo bailar el corazón.

Sobre la Bahía
de San Francisco
el cielo amanece
----color de cenizas,
pero mañana en vez del rosario,
diré esas cuentas de carnaval.




------© Rafael Jesús González 2010




-----Carnival Beads


From the streets of New Orleans
--------in full Mardi Gras,
you called;
your words, a string
----of lustrous beads,
green,
-------gold,
-------------purple
adorned me with joy
& made my heart dance.

Over
San Francisco Bay
the sky dawns
----the color of ashes,
but tomorrow instead of the rosary,
I will say those carnival beads.



-- ----© Rafael Jesús González 2010


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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Friendship

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Amistad

(del náhuatl)


Son una luz
las puntas rubias y tiernas del maíz;
en la primavera despertamos
a la borla dorada de la mazorca
y las pruebas de constancia
en los corazones de amigos
nos engalanan el cuello
con collares de joyas.



----------© Rafael Jesús González 2010



Friendship

(from the Nahuatl)


It is a light,
the corn's pale & tender ends;
in spring we wake
to the golden tassel of the maize,
& the proofs of constancy
in the hearts of friends
about our necks
jeweled collars place.




----------© Rafael Jesús González 2010



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Feast of St. Valentine



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-------
The Distance


The distance between us
is holy ground
to be traversed
feet bare
hands raised
------- in joyous dance
so that once it is
--------------crossed
the tracks of our pilgrimage
shine in the darkness
& light our coming together
in a bright & steady light.



------© Rafael Jesús González, 2010


(RUNES — A Review of Poetry, Connection;
CB Follett & Susan Terris, Editors;
Arctos Press, Sausalito, California; Winter 2007;

author's copyrights.)









---------La Distancia


La distancia entre nos
es suelo sagrado
para atravesarse
con los pies desnudos
elevadas las manos
----------en danza jubilosa
para que una vez
----------cruzado
las huellas de nuestro peregrinaje
brillen en la oscuridad
y alumbren nuestro encuentro
con luz brillante y fija.




------© Rafael Jesús González, 2010


(RUNES — A Review of Poetry, Conección;
CB Follett & Susan Terris, Directoras;
Arctos Press, Sausalito, California; invierno 2007;

derechos reservados del autor.)








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Year of the Tiger 4708



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Kiuho Toyei (19th century)



Tanka for the Year of the Tiger


The tiger, holy
to the Lord of Destruction,
snarling and raging
roams the forests, the image
of light captive behind bars.


---------© Rafael Jesús González 2010






Tanka para el año del tigre 4708


El tigre, bendito
al Señor de la Destrucción,
gruñendo y enfurecido
vaga por las selvas, la imagen
de la luz cautiva tras rejas.



-----------© Rafael Jesús González 2010

------------


Kano Tan'yu (1602-1674)

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

riverbabble, Winter 2010

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Retrival by Chris Novak

http://www.iceflow.com/riverbabble/Welcome.html


Winter Solstice Issue



Contributing Writers

Fiction

Dominique Brigham: Lightning Bug Messiah

J. D. Daniels: Damnest Thing I Ever Saw

Amy Cheung: West, West, and Away

Ashley Brand: November

Don Fredd: The Thing Is

Jon Sindell: Woodsmen


Poetry

Rafael Jesús González:

Luna del año viejo / Moon of the Old Year
Luna azul al fin del año / Blue Moon at Year's End
Siendo honrado por la ciudad /On Being Honored by the City
Obsesión lunática / Lunatic Obsession
Riverbabble Talks with Rafael Jesús González (reprint from #12)
Rafael Jesús González accepts Proclamation in Berkeley (video)

Laura McCullough:
Certitude and Exposure
Stamina
Wind and Water, the Drowning

Julene Tripp Weaver:
The Blues
Snared

Ann Walters:
After the Moon Falls
Ansel Adams Takes Another Look at the Sun

Phibby Venable:
John Dean
Wickerworker

Charles Clifford Brooks III:
A Final Autumn Evening
Lunar Love's Wanting

M. N. Kotzin:
Lip Reading
Two Postcards

Jim Lyle: Full Moon

Suzanne Nielsen: Placing of a Candle

Jason Price Everett: Sea of Rains

Paul Lobo Portugés: The Woman in the Moon

David Brewer: The Sun Dial

Marcus Christensen: Arriving at Truth Through Papier-maché Analysis

Katelynn Greene: Sunrise Resolution on Camelback Mountain

Doug Mathewson: Station to Station



Flash Fiction

Francine Witte: Moon Story

Rich Ives:
Detritus
Crying the Mare


Review

Carlos Reyes: Comentario /Comentary:
La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse




---Are you all in this vibration? I say you are. You once nobble that, congregation, and a buck joyride to heaven becomes a back number. You got me? It's a lifebrightener, sure. The hottest stuff ever was. It's the whole pie with jam in. It's just the cutest snappiest line out. It is immense, supersumptuous. It restores. It vibrates. I know and I am some vibrator.
JAMES JOYCE, Ulysses, p. 414., 15/2199-2204

_________________________________

Leila Rae, editor
riverbabble
riverbabble@gmail.com
http://iceflow.com/riverbabble/Welcome.html
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Launch of La musa lunática/The Lunatic Muse by Rafael Jesús González

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Celebrate the full moon

La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse, Rafael Jesús González's long awaited collection of moon poems, fulfills its promise of beauty and poignancy. Rafael Jesús González is the master of the imagist lyric; the poems are both brilliant and immediate. And, we find in its metaphoric language a deep love of the Earth that can sustain many readings. La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse is a careful bilingual edition, which allows readers of Spanish and/or English to enjoy and appreciate it.


Pandemonium Press Book Launch

La musa lunática /
The Lunatic Muse


Rafael Jesús González

Sunday, February 28, 2010 (full moon)

3:30 - 5:30 pm

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian
Universalists

1924 Cedar Street


Berkeley, California


with

Audible Light
(singing poems from
La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse)

Phoebe Sorgen, voice
Nicole Milner, piano
Edie Hartshorne, koto

Book signing follows the reading
light refreshments served


co-sponsored by the BFUU Social Justice Committee






Celebra la luna llena

La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse, la muy esperada colección de poemas lunares de Rafael Jesús González cumple su promesa de belleza e intensidad. Rafael Jesús González es maestro de la lírica imaginista; los poemas son a la vez brillantes e inmediatos. Y encontramos en su lenguaje metafórico un profundo amor de la Tierra que aguanta muchas lecturas. La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse es una edición bilingüe esmerada que les permite a los lectores de español y/o de inglés gozar y apreciarla.


Editora Pandemonium Press Presenta

La musa lunática /
The Lunatic Muse


Rafael Jesús González


domingo, 28 febrero 2010 (luna llena)

3:30 - 5:30 pm


1924 calle Cedar


Berkeley, California


con

Luz Audible
(cantando poemas de
La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse
)

Phoebe Sorgen, voz
Nicole Milner, piano
Edie Hartshorne, koto

firma del libro después de la lectura
se servirá refrigerio

padrinado por el Comité por la Justicia Social

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