Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter

Monday, March 07, 2005

Gacela of the Dark Death by Frederico Garcia Lorca

I want to sleep the dream of the apples,
to withdraw from the tumult of cemetries.
I want to sleep the dream of that child
who wanted to cut his heart on the high seas.

I don't want to hear again that the dead do not lose their blood,
that the putrid mouth goes on asking for water.
I don't want to learn of the tortures of the grass,
nor of the moon with a serpent's mouth
that labors before dawn.

I want to sleep awhile,
awhile, a minute, a century;
but all must know that I have not died;
that there is a stable of gold in my lips;
that I am the small friend of the West wing;
that I am the intense shadows of my tears.

Cover me at dawn with a veil,
because dawn will throw fistfuls of ants at me,
and wet with hard water my shoes
so that the pincers of the scorpion slide.

For I want to sleep the dream of the apples,
to learn a lament that will cleanse me to earth;
for I want to live with that dark child
who wanted to cut his heart on the high seas.

-- A good article on this poet was in yesterday's Philadelphia Enquirer. I'd heard the name before, but only remembered it vaguely. But after doing a search on Lorca, I found some of his poems... and this one really stood out on the page. Also, if you want to read the article, here's the link: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/11051091.htm

No comments: