THE POEM WITHOUT MUSIC

Wherever you are, you will know
why I am saying what I say now.
Only you alone can understand it,
interpret it, my message
being very simple: pureness,
some life, some truths
which are never forgotten;
even if life, the truth
and purity are gone
from me.

……………Listen. Only
for you are described
these words. You alone
will understand.

……………One day,
like this clear winter
of nineteen hundred and fifty
three, under the pine-trees,
you will read this poem, time
shall inhabit you
of a moment long faded.
And then this poem will have completed
it’s mission. When I and the instance
that words provoked are buried
under a cloak of custom,
a child of pure happiness,
you will read this poem, with
time obscured. And your presence
informs the words, as
only they point to what we
both know, without expressing it;
hurling the book to the side,
with the tangle of wool
you will knit a garment
for the children who need comfort.
And then laugh about the dreams
and words (in youthful
inexperience, spoken) lifted
inside your soul.

……………I write confusingly,
alluding, so that no one
unravels the full secret. For
when you feel the moment
it is already dead, no one hears
the rumours of this heart.
When forgotten, this poem
will have died. It becomes like
notes written for our agenda,
a key that needs to be understood
so that it reaches to your heart
this joy that I dreamt
for you.

……………You’ll understand
why this moment needed to be
swept along by forgetfulness.

If there is poetry below the surface
in my words, only you
will know. In you is the end,
as it is in you her origin.

The others cannot and should not
understand, even remotely,
what this means.

……………This is all
I really have time to say.

David Scanlon – England – (1963 – )

Hierro, J. (2019) Collected Poems: New Translations. In Spanish and translated to English by David Scanlon. The Foolish Poet Press, Wilmslow, Spain. THE POEM WITHOUT MUSIC. Page Number 999.

EL POEMA SIN MúSICA

Dondequiera que estés, sabrás
por qué digo lo que ahora digo.
Sólo tú puedes comprenderlo,
interpretarlo. Mi mensaje
es bien sencillo: la pureza,
un poco de vida, un poco
de verdad, no se olvidan nunca;
aunque la vida, la verdad
y la pureza se nos vayan
de las manos.

The poem is still protected by copyright so above is only a snippet.  To see the rest of the poem please look at “Nayagua; revista de poesía.  Sumergidos en la nube (2012) – page 8-9.”  Published by Fundación Centro de Poesía José Hierro, C/ José Hierro 7, 28905 Getafe, Madrid, http://www.cpoesiajosehierro.org.

José Hierro – Spain – (1922 - 2002)

Hierro, J. (1957) “Cuanto sé de mí”. Ágora; Madrid.

Work is protected by copyright.