Ainda que a casa estaba fría e húmida
Cando espertei o meu corpo quente agrupárase nunha unidade apacíbel
Ningún músculo enviaba sinais de alarma

Medio século despois, baixo as mantas
Volvera a calidez da infancia 
Cando as vivendas por defecto eran
Frías e húmidas e as camas 
Se lograban quentarse
Voltábanse o refuxio máis íntimo

Logo erguinme e o contacto prolongado
Dos pés espidos mentres almorzaba
Contra a baldosa do chan da cociña
Trouxoume os teus posuíndo nus
Cada cuarto daquel segundo andar de Hydra
Cada día que viñas e faciamos o amor
E do ramo que che comprara na Colonne
Levábaste só unha das rosas vermellas.

Only a rose

Although the house was cold and damp
When I woke up my warm body had gathered into a peaceful unity
No muscle sent alarm signals

Half a century later, under the blankets
The warmth of childhood had returned
When the default homes were
Cold and damp and the beds,
If they managed to warm up, 
Became the most intimate refuge

Then I got up and the prolonged contact
Of my bare feet while I ate breakfast
Against the tile of the kitchen floor
Brought me your naked feet possessing
Every room on that second floor in Hydra
Every time  you came  and we made love
And from the bouquet I bought you at La Colonne
You took only one of the red roses.

Pasaran tantos anos!
Nos escaparates das zapatarías
O xénero a prezos exorbitados 
Era a parte visíbel 
Do frío isolamento

O país do corazón era un diminuto
Bonsai 
Con brillantes froitos agachados
Entre as pólas cuberras 
De liques

A terra 
Que noutrora formara continentes
Cabía agora nun livián testo
Do plástco menos honorable
Que for

A light pot

So many years had passed!
In the shoe store windows
The exorbitantly priced stuff
It was the visible part
Of the cold isolation

The country of the heart was a tiny
Bonsai
With shiny fruits hidden
Among the branches covered
In lichen

The earth
That once formed continents
Now fit in a light pot
Of the least honorable plastic
Imaginable

Pídolle ao todopoderoso 
señor da troposfera,
e de todos os seus seres,
que poña en sordina 
o balbordo do mundo 

botando a saba branca
sobre o leito de herba
torne os corvos do prado
para que só o roce da pel 
sexa o himno da humanidade

Pero xa o sol ranqueante 
acada o horizonte oculto
deixando un baleiro lamacento
onde se derrete sen gloria 
o antídoto contra a dor

Antidote

I ask the almighty 
lord of the troposphere,
and of all its beings,
to put a mute on
the din of the world 

by throwing the white sheet
on the bed of grass
and expelling the crows from the meadow
so that only the touch of skin
is the anthem of humanity

But already the languid sun
reaches the hidden horizon
leaving a muddy void
where the antidote to pain 
melts ingloriously

Agradezo 
pola neve caída durante a noite
(erguémonos cedo 
(aínda non había marcas na rúa 

Onte mesmo (con envexa 
vía Escocia nevada 
(no mapa da axencia estatal de meteoroloxía
hoxe con esforzo chegou a nós!

Encántame a neve 
porque consegue mostrarme
o mesmo mundo
desde outra perspectiva inesperada

Sendo só auga 
a cubrir o obvio 
desvela o que o cotián 
tan candidamente oculta

Snow

I am thankful 
for the snow fallen overnight 
(we got up early 
(there were still no marks on the street

Just yesterday (with envy 
I saw snowy Scotland (on the Met Office map
today with great effort 
the snow finally reached us!

I love the snow 
because it manages to show me
the same world
from another unexpected perspective

Being only water 
covering the obvious 
it reveals what the everyday 
so innocently hides

Esta mañá o termómetro do coche marcaba seis graos 
aínda era noite e a luz das farolas rebotaba nos charcos 
mentres avanzabamos cara á cidade 
no río, antes do raiar do día 
os paxaros celebraban xa animadamente o novo ano 
nas rúas había unha calma 
como se o mundo estivese aínda sen estrear. 

A luz avanzaba tímidamente 
o aire limpo e fresco se rozaba manso 
contra a nosa pel expectante
 
Os ingredientes estaban todos alí
so bastaba parar un intre para escoitar
a doce chamada da vida

New year

This morning the car thermometer read six degrees
it was still night and the light from the lampposts bounced off the puddles
as we advanced towards the city
on the river, before dawn
the birds were already celebrating the new year
in the streets there was a calm
as if the world had not yet begun.

The light advanced timidly
the clean and fresh air brushed gently
against our expectant skin

The ingredients were all there
it was enough to stop for a moment to listen
to the sweet call of life

A veces tengo ganas 
de buscar un ser humano 
y poder vaciar en él, 
como en un contenedor de basuras, 
toda esta soledad 
que me agota la vida

O sueño con abrir al azar 
la primera alma que pase
como una hoja seca invencible
rodando por la acera 
para pesar sus desvelos 
y buscar el mismo grito desgarrado

Adivinar así, de una vez por todas 
si somos seres continuamente 
urgidos de asistencia
llamando en secreto por el rayo protector
que nos saque de alguna forma
del cajón de los relojes rotos

Broken watches

Sometimes I long
to find a human being
and empty into them,
like into a rubbish container,
all this loneliness
that drains my life

Or I dream of randomly opening
the first soul that passes by
like an invincible dry leaf
rolling along the sidewalk
to weigh their burdens
and search for the same heart-wrenching cry

To divine thus, once and for all
if we are beings constantly
in need of assistance
secretly calling for the protective lightning
that will somehow pull us
from the drawer of broken watches

Era yo un pájaro blanco 
De estirpe marina, libre
Tan libre que hasta los dioses
Me envidiaban cuando 
Lanzando gritos estridentes
Navegaba las térmicas
Sobre el hermoso basurero 
A las afueras de la inmensa ciudad

El cinismo que viajaba 
Enganchado en mis alas
Se me desvaneció lo primero
Con el disparo aleatorio
De una escopeta de cartuchos

Ahora con la cabeza recostada 
Sobre la hierba ya no siento
Las corrientes arrastrarme
Podría pensar que no existe más
La esencia del ave en mis restos,
En mis recuerdos, sin embargo
Respiro y puedo sentir 
Los cuerpos de cientos de hormigas
Adentrándose en el mío

Con sus pequeñas mandíbulas
Recortan y se llevan souvenirs,  
Pedacitos de aire y luz,  
A los rincones más oscuros
De sus subterráneas galerías 

The bird 

I was a white bird
Of marine lineage, free
So free that even the gods
Envied me when
Launching strident cries
I rode the thermals
Over the beautiful landfill
On the outskirts of the immense city

The cynicism that traveled
Hooked on my wings
Vanished first
With the random shot
Of a shotgun

Now with my head resting
On the grass I no longer feel
The currents dragging me along
I might think that the essence of the bird no longer exists
In my remains,
In my memories, however
I breathe and can feel
The bodies of hundreds of ants
Entering mine

With their tiny mandibles
They cut and carry away souvenirs,
Little pieces of air and light,
To the darkest corners
Of their subterranean galleries

Hoy siento dentro 
La presión del pantano 
En el medio del pecho

Se engancha el casco
El los bajos de la isla de Navidad
De repente se vacía un torrente 
Salado
Que me arranca  
La carne toda

Entre mis huesos blancos de sol
El viento silba una melodía
Que tú convertirás en el himno
De nuestra patria de redención

Mis harapos desgarrados 
La bandera ondeando sobre
El fuerte de Navidad

Hubiese asentado mi hogar 
en las casas humildes del puerto
de mi nación de origen
si no me hubiera clavado los dientes
el virus de la poesía  


Christmas Fort

Today I feel inside
The pressure of the dam
In the middle of my chest

The hull catches
On the shallows of Christmas Island
Suddenly a salty torrent empties
That tears away
All my flesh

Among my sun-white bones
The wind whistles a melody
That you will turn into the anthem
Of our homeland of redemption

My tattered rags
The flag waving over
Christmas Fort

I would have settled my home
in the humble houses of the port
of my native land
if the poetry virus hadn't bitten me

Si que son católico, 
ou o fun, ou o era
E teño un museo onde locen amarelados,
Algúns aínda coas uñas afiadas,
Os pecados que non acadaran
Perdón, nin indulxencia

Agora que nace o Neno
Na carta aos Reis Magos
Pido o kit de crucifixión sueco
Un par de madeiros e tres cravos
Para armar o sinxelo mecanismo 
Autoinmolatorio

Podería escribir un dicionario completo
Nomeando a miña colección 
Como a de calquera que coma min
Xa foi novo e estúpido
Pois a xuventude deixa unha ferida 
Da que coidar o resto da vida 

Porén as poutas que hoxe máis se cravan
Son as dun gato silvestre, arisco
Que tras terme gañado a sua confianza
Abandonei nalgunha das moitas mudanzas
Ao final, aos dous nos sucedeu o mesmo:
nunca logramos recuperarnos

DIY atonement

Yes, I am Catholic,
or I was, or I used to be
And I have a museum where yellowed by time,
Some still with sharp nails,
Shine the sins that had not achieved
Forgiveness or indulgence

Now that the Child is born
In the letter to the Wise Men
I ask for the Swedish crucifixion kit
A couple of sticks and three nails
To assemble the simple self-immolation mechanism

I could write a complete dictionary
By naming my collection
Like that of anyone, like me,
was once young and stupid
Because youth leaves a wound
That must be cared for the rest of your life

However, the claws that dig in the most today
Are those of a feral cat
That after I had gained its trust
I abandoned it during one of the many moves
In the end, the same thing happened to both of us:
We never managed to recover

Entre tes cuisses s’écoula ma jeunesse
j’ai réussi à sentir le fond de mon puits
me découvrant animal et frère de tant d’autres
j’ai pu voler en aveugle moineau
porte-parole enflammé de la divinité
ton espace nid douillet de l’insouciance
convaincu d’être enfin arrivé au havre rêvé
je me suis fait une carapace de tes cuisses
mais, qu’importe! Là-bas au loin, en sourdine
un monde têtu façonnait sans pitié ses sillons 

Naked paradise

Between your thighs flowed my youth
I managed to feel the bottom of my well
discovering myself as an animal and a brother to so many others
I was able to fly blindly, a sparrow
a fiery spokesperson for divinity
your space, a cozy nest of carefree abandon
convinced I had finally arrived at my dream haven
I built a shell of your thighs
but, what does it matter! There in the distance, muted
a stubborn world mercilessly carved its furrows