Sen pulgas que tornar 
dos colchóns
nin leite que callar 
para o queixo
os nomes da agana 
se foron diluíndo
encollendo ata quedar 
reducidos a simple
e pequeniña flor
á beira do camiño
meu
   estreliñas brancas
   nos firmamentos
   de herba

The name of the flowers

Now that there are 
no more fleas to get rid of 
on the mattresses 
nor milk to curdle 
for the cheese 
the names of the bedstraw 
have been diluted 
shrinking until reduced to a simple 
tiny flower by the side 
of my road 
   white stars 
   in the grass 
   firmaments

A carta de papel 
pola fenda na porta 
lanzouse de cabeza 
no silencio da nosa casa 
e salpicou ondas 
concéntricas 
que viñeron alterar as follas 
de riba da mesa 
quedando á vista os cercos de pó 
teimuda e silandeiramente tatuados 
polo equilibrio de eras xeolóxicas

Deixou cravado pola afiada luz 
a rixidez do xesto entrenado 
en eternas sesións de loita 
pedra sobre pedra 
peso da materia morta 
endurecendo a queixada 
e fixo abrollar unha magoa 
como de derradeiro ser humano 
agotado de sobrevivir 
como de inmerecida labazada 
que recibe o alumno nun erro 
de percepción 
e volven as bagoas que por un intre 
crean mares nos que se disolven 
as esquinas máis dolorosas 
da simetría dos bloques de granito

Mineral balance

Through the mail slot in the door 
the letter was thrown headfirst 
into the silence of our house 
and it splashed concentric 
waves 
that came to move the paper sheets 
above the table 
exposing the dusty marks 
that stubbornly and silently were tattooed 
by the balance of geological periods

The rigidity of the trained gesture
trained in eternal sessions of struggle
was nailed by the sharp light
stone upon stone 
the weight of dead matter 
hardening the jaw 
and made a sorrow appear 
as the last human being 
exhausted to survive 
as the undeserved slap 
that the student receives in an error 
of perception 
and the tears return 
to create for a moment seas 
in which the most painful corners 
of the symmetry of the granite blocks 
will dissolve

O fondo do caixón da mesiña de noite 
era o lugar máis seguro da terra 
alí gardaba 
o murmurio dunha fonte pequena 
o maino bater das ondas na area 
e os rizos que nas pozas das pedras 
peiteaba o vento

A mesiña de noite era un lugar seguro 
onde cada noite procurar consolo 
hidratando os meus soños 
renovado polo vento
arrolado polas ondas 

E así de inmóbil tería seguido
se non for polo tornado
que escachou as táboas 
daquela vella mesiña de noite
e puideron deste xeito saír ceibos
os poemas encorados
durante anos naquel caixon
de madeira esgotada

Tornado

The bottom of the nightstand drawer
was the safest place on earth
so there I kept
the murmur of a small fountain
the relaxing pounding of the waves in the sand
and the curls that the wind combed 
in the puddles of the stones

The bedside table was a safe place
where every night to seek for consolation
hydrating my dreams
renewed by the wind
rolled by the waves

And so motionless I would have continued
if not for the tornado
which cracked the boards
from that old bedside table
and in this way they were able to come out free
the poems retained
for years in that drawer
of exhausted wood

De que me serve saber 
o significado do límite 
dos cero graos Kelvin
ou a aceleración a aplicarlle a un corpo
para arrincalo do abrazo terrestre
se eu mesmo son un planeta á deriva
sen órbita, nin prados verdes
arrastrando as raíces 
como a cola dun cometa 
cansado
no escuro e frío 
firmamento

Drifting planet

What good is it to know 
the meaning of the limit 
of zero degrees Kelvin
or the acceleration to be applied to a body 
to pluck it from the earthly embrace
if I myself am a drifting planet 
with no orbit, no green meadows
dragging the roots like the tail 
of a tired comet
in the dark, cold 
firmament

Na cunca feita coas miñas mans
levei o poema ao mar do norte
paseeino pola beira dos cantís
para enchelo de aire mareiro
e meténdolle os pes na auga
enriquecino coa textura branda das algas

Na véspera escribira catro versos
que quedaran a levedar no frío da noite
e ás catro e media da mañá
xa estaban a chamar por min
así que fun amasándoos nas sabas
ao erguerme corrín anotalos

Durante a camiñata pola bahía 
algunhas palabras escorregaron
e quedaron esquecidas 
nunha poza con anémonas
outras mudaron a cor co sol
e aportaron luz de verán ao texto

Finalmente a elástica natación das focas
acabou por traerlle a beleza silvestre
que andaba procurando así que 
listo para levantar áncora
metíno na botella máis transparente 
e lanceino a navegar o océano

Poem development

In the cup made with my hands
I took the poem to the North Sea
for a walk along the edge of the cliffs
to fill it with sea air
and putting its feet in the water
I enriched it with the soft texture of the seaweed

On the eve I had written four verses
which had been left to rise in the cold of the night
and at four-thirty in the morning
they were already calling for me
so I was kneading them on the sheets
when I got up I ran to write them down

During the walk along the bay
a few words slipped
and they were forgotten
in a pond with anemones
others changed color with the sun
and they brought summer light to the text

Finally the elastic swimming of seals
ended up bringing the wild beauty
that I was looking for, so
ready to lift anchor
I put it in the most transparent bottle
and set it out to sail the ocean

na alianza das herbas
anónimas do páramo
e o suave avance
do mar de cinza do ceo
coce lenta a pócima
na que rebozo as feridas
con hisopos de orballo
tatúo mapas cicatriz
leve alma descargada
nas botas de lama negra

English walks

in the alliance of anonimous
herbs from the moor
and the smooth advance
of the sea of gray from the sky
cooks slowly the potion
in which I coat the wounds
with hysops of dew
I tattoo scar maps
light soul discharged
in black mud boots

El empleado de la Avanti West Coast 
sobre la linea amarilla del andén
da la espalda a las vías 
cuando se aproxima el estruendo
sobrecogedor de los once coches
a la indefensa estación de Milton Keynes Central
-roca batida por las olas constantes 
-de los trenes que salen desde Londres
-hacia el norte distante
El torrente de aire vibrante
y el grito sostenido de las ruedas
mordiendo el acero del rail
le dan por unos instantes al revisor
una majestuosidad en su excelsa tarea
de proteger la cápsula de eternidad que viaja 
en el morro del gigante

Northbound station

The employee of the Avanti West Coast 
on the yellow line of the platform 
turns his back to the tracks 
when the overwhelming roar 
of the eleven coaches approaches
to the helpless Milton Keynes Central station
 -rock beaten by the constant waves
 -of the trains leaving from London
 -to the distant north
The torrent of vibrating air
and the sustained scream of the wheels 
biting the steel of the rail 
gives the conductor a majesty 
for a few moments in his lofty task 
of protecting the capsule of eternity traveling 
on front of the giant

ayer la muerte avisó de su llegada
ya a primera hora de la mañana, 
se escuchaba el petardeo lejano 
de su vespino desde el fondo del valle
así que hubo tiempo de sobra
de refugiarse entre las ramas 
del ubicuo manzano de los abuelos
el pasto al pie del árbol 
disuadio a  la guadaña  
de buscar la fragil piel 
del cuello desnudo y su largo 
y grasiento pelo negro se llevó 
enganchado musgo del tronco
y arañó la tierra con las uñas negras
cuando consideró que tenía suficiente
con una hoja de rafia amarró
una buena brazada de hierba
la cargó en el asiento de la moto
y se marchó por el valle abajo
haciendo que el ruido del motor
se fuese desvaneciendo en un zumbido 
cada vez más lejano y volvimos 
poco a poco a recuperar el uso
de los miembros entumecidos
y dispuestos a aprovechar la nueva vida
que la muerte nos había dejado

The scythe in motion

yesterday death warned of his arrival
already first thing in the morning,
the distant backfiring was heard
from his vespino at the bottom of the valley
so there was plenty of time
to take refuge among the branches
of the ubiquitous grandparents’s apple tree 
the grass at the foot of the tree
dissuaded the scythe
from seek the fragile skin
of the bare neck and his long
and greasy black hair took
moss hooked from the trunk
and he scratched the earth with black nails
when he thought he had enough
with a sheet of raffia tied
a beautiful armful of grass
he loaded it on the seat of the motorcycle
and went down the valley
making the engine noise
faded away in a buzz
more and more distant and we returned
little by little to recover the use
of numb limbs
and willing to take advantage of the new life
that death had left us

A flor de mexacán que cos nosos 
alentos xuntos soplamos
foi para ela gloria evanescente 
e nin unha semente voadora
se agarrou á sua blusa branca
de volta ao barrio mariñeiro
mentres que nas laxes frías
dos meus páramos marróns
onde nunca chegan as vivas mareas
labrou fantásticos petróglifos
voltos permanente toponimia
na orografía da miña alma

Nos seguintes días andiven
descalzo aboiado entre as árbores
e no areal onde busquei
o seu corpo deitado ao sol
para borrar a torpeza 
e facerlle compañía ao recordo
que non aprendeu aínda o esquecemento
este alevín de maragota
como te tería amado!
se te tivese volto a topar

Paso as puntas dos dedos
polas espirais labirinticas
da miña primeira amante 
vinda do océano
e penso que tivemos a sorte
de rodear o amor antes
de que puidese entrar
a erosionar a pedra

Loneliness of first sex II

The dandelion flower that with our 
breaths together we blew
it was for her the evanescent glory
and not a flying seed
clung to her white blouse
when she’s back to sailor's neighborhood
while in the cold slabs
of my brown moors
where the high tides never reach
it carved fantastic petroglyphs
converted into permanent toponymy
in the orography of my soul

In the following days I walked
barefoot aimlessly among the trees
and on the beach where I looked for
her body lying in the sun
to erase clumsiness
and keep company to the memory
that has not yet learned to forget
this young fish
how I would have loved you!
If I had found you again

I pass my fingertips
by the labyrinthine spirals
of my first lover 
coming from the ocean
and I think we were lucky
to surround love before 
it could erode the stone

A forza de imaxinar durante anos
Por fin tomou forma de serea
Unha muller de cristal e salitre
Contra quen se estrelou o meu desexo
O meu desexo de escuma mariña
Como un paxaro ao bater na ventá
Desorientado vago entre os pinos 
Como te houbera amado!
Quizais busco o mellor emprazamento
Para erixir un mausoleo
Á miña virxinidade defunta
...

Loneliness of first sex

After have dreamed of it for years
It finally took the form of a mermaid
A woman of glass and saltpeter
Against whom my desire crashed
My sea foam desire
Like a bird knocking on a window
Disoriented I wander among the pines
How I would have loved you!
Maybe I'm looking for the best location
To erect a mausoleum
To my deceased virginity
...