From Another Life
By Daniel Lipara
Translated by Robin Myers
Another Life is out now with Eulalia Books!
Liliana, lily blossom
My mother’s five-foot nine
she has big bones and bleach blonde hair
white crinkle cotton dresses on milky blue-veined skin
skin sweet with perfume
and draped with necklaces she wears at home
our house of grass-green carpets our house without flowers
in Once where our neighbors’ heads are covered
because god’s up there above it all
though I’m not sure about my mother’s god
her name is Liliana
which means beautiful as a lily blossom
her grandmothers Fanny and Zelda were sisters
they could read the future in coffee grounds
and they knew everything about you from your birthday they were famous
they traveled far their customers were high-ranked officers important people
they hoped my mother would inherit their gift
but she’s a therapist
receives her clients in the living room
and sees things sometimes
sometimes at night she flings my covers off like something’s wrong
and sometimes she walks backwards
like something’s wrong
Liliana
lily blossom
my mother left Gerardo her first husband
she fled at night these things happen at night
she took the first black cab she saw
it was my father the tiller Aeolus led him
I was already in her belly when they married they named me Daniel
but in the end my father left a knife clutched in my mother’s hand
and now her parents coax her to remarry they want her house to have a man in it again
Ricardo her latest boyfriend’s not around we don’t know why
he lives in Avellaneda
he’s a blacksmith
like the lily
Liliana
we live
many lives she says
our souls are old or damp and cool as flowers
and when you die god thrusts your head into the river
and you forget it all
you’re light in the sky in the stars
in an orchard circled by hedges stately trees
pear and apple and fig trees their branches always heavy
and apple follows apple and pear follows pear
each yields to the other
delicious fruits
that offer myriad delights
and god thrusts your head into the river
you come back as a tree
an animal
I’m eleven
I’m drinking orange juice with my mother in a coffee shop
I think I won’t remember her
won’t recognize her if I see her in another life
don’t be like that souls travel as a group yes even in the stars
they change I might become your grandson or your cousin imagine that
a dog you have a spider in its web
a flower blooming on the terrace
Liliana
like a lily blossom
Estela morning star
is a friend of my mother’s she lives in San Miguel
her street is lined with palm trees she has dogs and chickens
she cleanses
my mother’s energy
and lays her hands onto my mother’s vengeful cells
and reads the planets
as my sister and I play with the dogs
and she says
my father will come back
come back from Ciudad Oculta the land of exile where he lives
with Analía she who never rests
that barren land that isn’t his
so now on Sundays
my mother calls Jorge we visit monks
and go to Rosario to see Ignacio the priest born in Ceylon and father Mario in González
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Catán
and the universal church of the kingdom of god
where the pastor leads you up to the altar
and the evil spirits disappear
Liliana, flor de lirio
Mi madre mide un metro ochenta
tiene los huesos grandes el pelo teñido de rubio
vestidos de bambula blanca sobre la piel blanca con venas azules
la piel llena de perfume
llena de collares que usa en casa
nuestra casa de alfombras como pasto casa sin flores
en Once donde todos se cubren la cabeza
porque arriba de todo está dios
aunque no sé si el de mi madre
se llama Liliana
que significa bella como una flor de lirio
sus abuelas Fanny y Zelda eran hermanas
veían el futuro en la borra de café
sabían todo por el día en que naciste eran famosas
viajaban recibían a militares a gente importante
quisieron pasarle a mi madre su don
pero ella es psicóloga
atiende en el living de casa
y a veces ve cosas
a veces a la noche me destapa como si hubiera algo
y a veces camina hacia atrás
como si hubiera algo
Liliana
la flor de lirio
Gerardo su primer esposo
mi madre lo dejó huyó de noche esas cosas pasan de noche
tomó el primer taxi negro que vio
era mi padre el labrador Eolo lo empujaba
se casaron conmigo en el vientre me pusieron Daniel
pero al final mi padre se fue mi madre empuñaba un cuchillo
y ahora sus padres piden que vuelva a casarse que haya un hombre en casa
ahora su último novio Ricardo no está no sabemos por qué
vive en Avellaneda
es herrero
como el lirio
Liliana
vivimos
varias vidas dice
las almas son viejas o son húmedas y frescas como flores
y al morir dios te hunde la cabeza en el río
y te olvidás de todo
sos luz en el cielo luz en las estrellas
en un huerto rodeado de setos donde hay árboles grandes
y perales manzanos e higueras siempre están llenas las ramas
la manzana sigue a la manzana la pera a la pera
cada una deja su lugar a otra
frutas deliciosas
que ofrecen un deleite extraordinario
y dios hunde tu cabeza en el río
volvés y sos un árbol
un animal
tengo once años
mi madre y yo desayunamos jugo de naranja en un café
y pienso no voy a acordarme de ella
no voy a darme cuenta si la veo en otra vida
no te pongas así las almas siempre van en grupo aún en las estrellas
van cambiando yo puedo ser tu primo tu nieto imaginate
un perro que vos tengas la araña en su tela
una flor que se abre en la terraza
Liliana
como una flor de lirio
estrella de la mañana Estela
es amiga de mi madre vive en San Miguel
donde la calle está llena de palmeras y en su casa hay gallinas y perros
y ella lava
la energía de mi madre
y apoya sus manos en las células malignas de mi madre
en el aura en la cabeza pelada en el pecho que falta
y lee los planetas
mientras mi hermana y yo jugamos con los perros
y dice
que mi padre va a volver a casa
volver de Ciudad Oculta tierra del exilio donde vive
con Analía la que no descansa
esa abandonada tierra que no es suya
ahora los domingos
mi madre llama a Jorge vemos a unos monjes
y vamos a Rosario a ver a Ignacio el sacerdote de Ceilán al padre Mario en Gonzáles
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Catán
a la iglesia universal del reino de dios
donde el pastor te lleva hasta el altar
y el demonio se va
Daniel Lipara—poet, translator, and editor—was born in Buenos Aires in 1987. His translations from English to Spanish include Learning to Sleep by John Burnside (Bajo la Luna). Otra vida (Bajo la Luna) is his first book of poetry. His work has appeared in Hablar de Poesía (Argentina) and Periódico de Poesía (Mexico), among other publications, as well as in English in Tupelo Quarterly. He lives in Buenos Aires.
Robin Myers is a Mexico City-based translator and poet. Other forthcoming book-length translations include The Science of Departures by Adalber Salas Hernández (Kenning Editions), Copy by Dolores Dorantes (Wave Books), Salt Crystals by Cristina Bendek (Charco Press), and Tonight: The Great Earthquake by Leonardo Teja (PANK Books). She writes a monthly column on translation for Palette Poetry.
Poesía en acción is an Action Books blog feature for Latin American and Spanish poetry in translation and the translator micro-interview series. It was created by Katherine M. Hedeen and is currently curated and edited by Olivia Lott with web editing by Paul Cunningham.