Poems (written mostly in Galician) translated into English.
On thistle-like flowers
By the river Mersey
My nose collected memories
Of the tiny house
Opposite three tall oaks
With the well, the hen coop
And the thirty square meters
Vegetable garden
Plus the triangular garden
Crowned with a permanent
Edge of small carnations
The territory two young lovers built
So that happiness could grow inside of me
O neno da cidade industrial
descubría o nome e as propiedades dos ventos
nas terras labregas do norte
enriquecidas co sal do seu clan
aprendía o manexo das gallas
de cinco puntas nos feixes que tecían
as follas de herba alta ao cair segadas
o avó miraba ao ceo
nomeaba por primeira vez as cousas:
as pedras, as arbores, os paxaros
aquela nube trae chuvia
esas flores séntanlle mal ao gando
a auga desta fonte sae fresca no verán
a vida lonxe dos turnos da fábrica
movíase a un ritmo máis acorde
co mundo do neno
o amarelo do sol e a herba seca
eran a paixase da adolescencia
cando o neno soñaba a diario cos misterios
do outro corpo
trala primavera a herba volve estar alta
e os movementos circulares da desbrozadora
van esparexendo un aroma primordial
que trae ao neno de volta
corenta anos despois
The boy of the industrial city
discovered the name and properties of the winds
in the farmlands of the north
enriched with the salt of their clan
he learned how to handle the five prongs
fork in the sheaves that the blades of tall grass
wove as they fall while mowed
grandfather looked at the sky
named things for the first time:
stones, trees, birds
that cloud bringing rain
those flowers making cattle sick
the water from this source always fresh in the summer
life away from factory shifts
moved at a more harmonious pace
with the child's world
the yellow of the sun and straw
were the passion of adolescence
when the boy dreamed daily of the mysteries
of the other body
after spring the grass is tall again
and the circular movements of the brush cutter
are spreading a primordial aroma
which brings the child back
forty years later
Se puider desfacerme
das partes do meu corpo
que algún día odiei
quedaría moi pouco de min
se para comezar
tiver que escoller algunha
arrincaríame os dentes todos
un por un, sen anestesia
como un activador da empatía
Aguanta, somos iso
o aguante é a nosa riqueza
No cole burlábase o profe
desa nena de nove aniños
que non sabía falar o español
sufría o bulling
antes de que fose descuberto
Orfa de nai aos doce comezou
a escravitude a tempo completo no bar
adolescencia deluxe durante 10 anos
Un fallo de diagnóstico
arrincoulle os dentes todos
antes dos 30
e non deixou aquela moza
de coser
de plantar a horta
de vender flores
de criar os catro fillos
malagradecidos
inventou a resiliencia
sen bautizala
sempre créndose a última
aguantando a dor en silencio
poñendo a todos por diante
Este neno caprichoso
cego incapaz de ver a grandeza
de tan cerca que a tiña
sempre pensou que a sua nai era
unha persoa corrente
Arrincaríame os dentes todos…
If I could get rid
of the parts of my body
that one day I hated
it would be very little left of me
if I had to choose one
to start with
I'd pull all my teeth out
one by one, without anesthesia
as an activator of empathy
Hold on, we are stamina
endurance is our wealth
In school, the teacher made fun of her
a nine-year-old girl
that could not speak Spanish
she's been bullied
before bullying was discovered
Motherless at twelve she started
full-time slavery at the bar
adolescence deluxe for 10 years
A diagnostic failure
pulled out all his teeth
before 30
and that girl didn't stop
sewing
growing the vegetable garden
selling flowers
raising the four ungrateful
children
she invented resilience
without giving it a name
always believing herself to be the last
enduring the pain in silence
putting everyone else at first place
This capricious child
blind unable to see greatness
for having it so close
he always thought his mother
as an ordinary person
I'd pull all my teeth out…
If you are a leaf
do not pet the kitten
it could be that she got used to it
and one day the wind or the autumn
will come and take you away
so who would dam the sorrow?
Si tu es une feuille
ne câlines pas le chaton
il se peut que lui il y prenne goût
et un jour le vent ou l’automne
viendront t’emporter
alors qui pourrait endiguer la peine?
I am very happy to see a poem of mine translated into Italian and published in Flavio Almerighi’s column, which gives early-rising poetry lovers a handful of rich flavors every Sunday
Dende o sofá do salón a través do cristal sucio vense os colectores do lixo pegados á ventá e a nosa sebe de faia, que medra co impulso imparábel da primavera estreitando o paso cara á porta da casa colabora activamente no noso illamento como dous peixes prisioneiros nunha poza deixada pola marea do outro lado da rua está a grande sebe do parking que agroma con follas vermellas e combina de marabilla cos ladrillos da fachada de enfrente onde unhas grandes ventás deixan albiscar outras vidas de fume, luz e fotografía agarrado no poste da farola asoma a metade do cartel co nome da rua da nosa rua de baixamar inglesa onde a retirada da sociedade como no poema de Manuel Antonio resultou en que Fomos ficando sós a rua a casa e máis nós.
From the sofa in the living room through the dirty pane it can be seen the wheelie bins propped up the window and our beech hedge, growing with the unstoppable impulse of spring narrowing the way to the house door actively collaborating in our isolation like two captive fish in a pool left by the tide on the other side of the street is the large hedge of the car park that sprouts with red leaves and goes well together with the bricks of the opposite facade where large windows reveal other lives of smoke, light and photography clinging to the lamp post peeks out half of the sign with the name of the street of our English low tide street where the withdrawal of society as in Manuel Antonio's poem resulted that We were progressively left alone the street, the house and us
Dans la même salle s'y tortillent
comme un bouillon de lombrics
les peaux tendues des ventres repus
les dents qui mordent le bord du verre
Bombes de pissenlit éclatent
de justesse à côté de leurs cibles
pas de dommage cette fois-ci!
Saignent les pouls à l'heure pile
et à la et demie
les enfants ne pleurent plus
que du bord des doigts
l'ancien vacarme des chiens
vendu comme souvenir
d'une saison désormais révolue
# mariages clandestins
sans klaxons, ni pétards
ni cris de joie expansive
les cours de lycé noyées
sous les boissons du printemps
émettent des bruits sourds, lointains
y avait encore des vies
portées par des êtres vivants
dotés de voix criardes
pour se battre à coup d'insulte
se jeter de strophes puantes
Mais hélas, rien n'y reste
que le silence des pensées
de l'intelligence artificielle
In the same room squirm
like earthworm broth
the taut skins of sated bellies
the teeth that bite the edge of the glass
Dandelion bombs burst
narrowly beside their targets
no damage this time!
Pulses bleed on the hour
and at the half past
children don't cry anymore
only from the edge of the fingers
the old din of dogs
sold as a souvenir
of a season now over
#clandestine marriages
without horns or firecrackers
nor cries of expansive joy
high school playgrounds drown
under spring drinks
make muffled, distant noises
there were still lives
carried by living beings
with shrill voices
to fight with insult
to throw stinky stanzas
But alas, there is nothing left
but silence
of artificial intelligence thoughts
Au bord humide de la rivière
où Nous nous étions installés
sont nés le vacarme, le chaos et la joie
sous la treille de la vigne, entre les sillons
de la terre fraîchement labourée
Elle tartina sa rage de vivre
au milieu des lapins et des poules
entourée d’arbre fruitiers et légumes
bâtit ses remparts si solides et résistants
qu’aujourd’hui une fois le Nous noyé
et emporté par le courant
ces murs la tiennent encore
douillette au sec
mais éloignée de Moi
At the wet edge of the river
where We settled
the din, the chaos and the joy were born
under the trellis of the vine, between the furrows
of freshly plowed land
She spread her rage to live
among rabbits and hens
surrounded by fruit trees and vegetables
built her ramparts so solid and resistant
that today once the "Us"´s been drowned
and carried away by the current
these walls still keep her
at a cozy dry place
but away from Me
mamá tiña solución
para cada necesidade
resposta a cada pregunta
non sei de onde sacaba
a sabedoría, a habilidade
papá tivo unha molesta
espulla na barriga
atoulle un pelo de cabalo
ata que en pouco tempo secou
e desapareceu
lémbrome pensando:
“como farei eu cando sexa grande
para topar unha crina
cada vez que a precise?”
Mom had a solution
for every need
an answer to each question
I don't know where he got
the wisdom, the skill
Dad had had an upset
wart on belly
she tied a horsehair to it
until it soon dried up
and disappeared
I remember thinking:
"how will I do when I grow up
to find a mane
every time I’ll need it?"
J'allais à l'arrière d'une camionnette
On parcourait la rue du bord de mer
À côté des chantiers naval
Aux alentours de l'école d'ingénieurs
On avait presque vingt ans
Et mes consignes revolutionnaires
Criées à tue-tête par-dessus bord
N'arrivaient pas à troubler
Le bruit de fond du service de nuit
Sur la coque des monstres
Tout au plus une mouette
Qui somnolait sur le lampadaire
Dérangée par les élèves en fête
Se déplaçait une dizaine de mètres
I was in the back of an old van
While we were driving by the sea
Next to the shipyards
Around the engineering school
We were almost twenty
And my revolutionary slogan
Loudly shouted overboard
Couldn't disturb
The background noise of the night shift
On the hull of the monsters
At most a seagull
Dozing on the lamppost
Disturbed by students celebrating
Moved about ten meters
abel abilheira