The River from North to South (for towns that have North to the left)
1.
“Presos del suelo”,
Me envidian si patino.
¡Mira cómo vuelo!
(Grafitti anónimo en el puente de Chapina)
“Prisoners of the ground”
They envy me when I skate
Watch me fly!
2.
Sobre el río, paz verde,
Cruzan tres flechas.
Piraguas blancas.
On the river, green stillness,
Three arrows crossing.
White kayaks.
3.
Los siete puentes
abrazando la ciudad,
a todos nosotros.
Our seven bridges
Hugging the city,
hugging us all.
4.
Jardines del Cristina.
Mi abuelo no está.
Pero yo sí.
Cristina Gardens.
My grandfather’s gone.
But here I am.
5.
Niebla y gorrillas.
Siete de la mañana,
Lunes de frío.
Beggars on heroin.
Fog, seven a. m.
As cold as Mondays can be.
A cycle to compensate for the lak of poetry of the last few days. I don’t know if this piece improves when you know the things I am talking about. Just in case: Seville appears conventionally in maps with the river flowing from left to right, which means that the north is to the left, and in a bad horror movie this quirkiness was mentioned as an example of the fact that nothing works logically in my hometown.
And there’s just no way in which the translation can express it, but the last one is not sympathetic to the beggars, but to the University students they harass every morning.
“Presos del suelo”,
Me envidian si patino.
¡Mira cómo vuelo!
(Grafitti anónimo en el puente de Chapina)
“Prisoners of the ground”
They envy me when I skate
Watch me fly!
2.
Sobre el río, paz verde,
Cruzan tres flechas.
Piraguas blancas.
On the river, green stillness,
Three arrows crossing.
White kayaks.
3.
Los siete puentes
abrazando la ciudad,
a todos nosotros.
Our seven bridges
Hugging the city,
hugging us all.
4.
Jardines del Cristina.
Mi abuelo no está.
Pero yo sí.
Cristina Gardens.
My grandfather’s gone.
But here I am.
5.
Niebla y gorrillas.
Siete de la mañana,
Lunes de frío.
Beggars on heroin.
Fog, seven a. m.
As cold as Mondays can be.
A cycle to compensate for the lak of poetry of the last few days. I don’t know if this piece improves when you know the things I am talking about. Just in case: Seville appears conventionally in maps with the river flowing from left to right, which means that the north is to the left, and in a bad horror movie this quirkiness was mentioned as an example of the fact that nothing works logically in my hometown.
And there’s just no way in which the translation can express it, but the last one is not sympathetic to the beggars, but to the University students they harass every morning.