The Old Man
I wouldn’t love you if, on top of everything, you were young,
stunningly handsome,
and mild-mannered.
What I want from you is that harsh Castilian tongue,
that lean body and leathery skin, and the precision
with which you pour wine.
What I want from you is that memory I don’t exist in
(my echoes resounding
as in an empty room).
Vita brevis, says the living room clock. Outside, the fields are vast, the afternoon, vast,
I hear you talking with someone, a dog barks,
there’s sunshine and geraniums and the smell of a thyme-scented dish.
Two steps would be enough
for me to see you. But I prefer knowing you’re out there, holding up
the sky and the whole world for me.
What I want from you is the long apprenticeship, completed,
the irreverence and laughter, the certainty.
El viejo
No te querría si, además, fueras joven,
si fueras bello,
si fueras manso.
De ti quiero la aspereza del castellano,
el cuerpo duro y la piel curtida y la precisión
con que sirves el vino.
De ti quiero esa memoria en que no existo
(resuenan mis ecos
como en una habitación vacía).
Vita brevis, dice el reloj de la sala. Afuera el campo es enorme, la tarde es enorme,
te oigo hablar con alguien, ladra un perro,
hay sol y geranios y olor a guiso con tomillo.
Me basta dar dos pasos
para verte. Pero prefiero saber que estás afuera, sosteniendo
el cielo y el mundo para mí.
De ti quiero el largo aprendizaje cumplido,
la impiedad y la risa, la certeza.
About the Author
Graciela Reyes was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her book Poemas, a bilingual edition of selected poems, translated by Ruth El Saffar, was published by the Consulate of Argentina in Chicago in 1991. Her other books of poetry include Reflexiones de una mujer sola and Poemas para andar por casa (Buenos Aires, 1982), and Que la quiero ver bailar (1989), which won both the Letras de Oro prize and the Premio Cuidad de Rota, and she also is a renowned scholar of linguistic theory. She retired from her position as Professor of Spanish (Linguistics) at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007.
About the Translator
Jackie K. White is the author of three chapbooks and a book of collaborative poems, The Under Hum, with Simone Muench. Jackie’s translations appear in the anthology, Between the Heart and the Land: Midwest Latina Writers and the journals ACM, Blackwater Review, Escape into Life, and Natural Bridge. She has served as an expert reviewer for the American Literary Translators’ Association (ALTA).
