poetry in action features work by poets from around the world, translated into English.
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poetry in action #41
from MOVIMIENTOS by Alberto Borea
Translated by Sarah Swinwood
These poems are rooted in the culture of the coastal city of Lima, which is heavily influenced by the weather: sunny during the summer months, shrouded in fog that rolls into this desert city during the winter months.
1
It’s important to keep up appearances
The lady said
As I tried to stuff myself
In my pocket
*
The little girl has two gold teeth
The little girl has one gold tooth|
The girl… has no more teeth
The girl… has no more gold
*
Miguel Grau: Silver face in el parque de Lima
Simón Bolívar: Gold bust in el museo de la Nación
Juan Ramirez: Entire body in any old park
1
Hay que guardar las apariencias
My dijo la señora
Yo intenté
Caber en mi bolsillo
*
La niña tiene dos dientes de oro
La niña tiene un diente de oro
La niña… ya no tiene dientes
La niña… ya no tiene oro
*
Miguel Grau: Rostro de plata en el parque de Lima
Simón Bolívar: Busto de oro en el museo de la Nación
Juan Ramirez: Cuerpo completo en un parque cualquiera
2
Talking about freedom
With my shoe on his shadow
*
The air carries words
The body carries will
the soul carries nothing
*
Your anxious hand
Has turned into a fork
2
Hablo de libertad
Con el zapato sobre su sombra
*
El aire contiene las palabras
El cuerpo contiene voluntad
el alma no contiene nada
*
Tu mano ansiosa
Se volvió tenedor
3
Stars light up the sky
Towns light up the earth
Let’s burn these words
And put them in the middle
*
In she strolled saying
000000hello
And me
00000From where I stood
Could see the sea
*
I have total blind faith
000000in doubting
*
Music arrives through a cord
Images arrive through a cord
Humans arrive through a cord
000but it breaks
*
He holds his cigarette 5 cm from my eyes
I stand in front of the park
Like a human Obelisk
3
Las estrellas brillan en el cielo
Los pueblos alumbran la tierra
Hay que quemar estas palabras
Y colocarlas en el medio
*
Ella entró y dijo hola
00000000000Yo
Desde mi esquina
00000Le pude ver el mar
*
Creo en la fe ciega
de la duda
*
La música llega a través de un cordón
La imagen llega a través de un cordón
El hombre llega a través de un cordón
00000pero se rompe
*
Colocó un cigarrillo a 5 cm de mis ojos
Me poso frente a un parque
He creado un Obelisco
Alberto Borea is based in New York and Berlin with artist residencies and openings in galleries worldwide, visual art and sculpture were Borea’s primary medium. His work opened a space for existential discourse, where poetry, humor and sociopolitical ideas can coexist. Select poems written between ‘98-2000 were published in his chapbook MOVIMIENTOS (Plectro Editores) in 2016. Alberto Borea was born in Lima, Peru in 1979. He passed away from cancer in December 2020. Borea lived and worked in Berlin, New York City and Lima.
Sarah Swinwood is a Canadian writer and translator based in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated with an MFA in literary translation and nonfiction writing in 2023 from Columbia University. Swinwood translates primarily from Spanish, largely focussed on poets from Lima, Peru who have not yet published in English. In the mid 2000s, Borea introduced Swinwood to a world of artists and poets who gave readings and exhibitions in the Bohemian district of Barranco in Lima, Peru, a creative power spot that continues to thrive. Twitter: @swinny444 Instagram: @sarahtonein