Lima,
City with the Stretched out Wings
It's an ink-black night: no stars: a moon in sight
Just dots of: red, green and white-white lights
As the plane descends, descends, slides down
On the long-drawn-out-spun-out lingering city of lights
Uneven as a crumbled cake, lit up like a Christmas tree-
The sleepless city, with its stretched out wings
Stretching from the mountains to the sea-
Winding through the valley's, forests, and streams
Stretches, stretches its naked wings-endlessly
As,
I'm descending, down, over and around the city
(descending, descending, and sliding to the ground)
The city with stretched out wings-and endless lights
Down, behind, around, the ground, it's immune to me
I'm just part of its evening, a baptism in its inky sea
Invisible people: cats, dogs, birds, and rats-infinite
Uncountable: dots; streams of lit dots, dot-lights;
People: walking, talking, sleeping, eating by the dots
People: waiting, killing, robbing, praying, by the dots
For tomorrow, tomorrow and another tomorrow
They say-:
you are ruthless, and I know this to be true
And they tell me you have thieves and murders-
And this, I dare say-but shall-is also true, very true
But show me a city to the contrary of eight-million-?
I shake my fist and say: '?show me! But no one does'
So alive, so brave, with strong and hungry hearts;
I say, show me one that sings in poverty and smiles
Prove me one that celebrates year-round of its heroes
Show me painters that are as good-that sell on streets-
As good as: Picasso, Dali, Rembrandt, and Yang Yang
And that welcomes the world with stretched out arms-
Show me all this, or some of this, and I will say no more
With this,
I descend to its streets, its crowed winding streets
As well as, to its neighborhoods with dust and soiled air,
And hear the laughs of the children; the dogs on roofs
Sights of the shoe-shiners: men and boys, in the parks
And the numerous food carts; -- musicians, paper sellers
And with its naked featherless wings, covering all
-My Lima, Peru with its renowned Cathedral:
Golden yellow with towering crowns, and
Within its plaza-square, a water fountain-celebrated.
Under its sins, with its wrinkled aged men, lovely women,
They all stand tall and bow to its Inca history, its glory-
Its world that once ruled all, like the Roman Empire,
Like the American Dream, they were the noble, the kings
And now, from drudgery and toil, sweat and strive, all, all Grinding, grinding away, each and everyday, lover of the, King of Kings: Jesus Christ-this is the Lima I know today; a mighty ship that has already sailed the seven seas, now resting!?
Spanish Version
Lima,
La ciudad con las alas extendidas
Translated by Rosa Pe?aloza
Esta es una noche oscura: no estrellas, ni luna a la vista
Solo puntos: rojo, verde y blanco?luces blancas
Mientras que el avi?n desciende, desciende, bajando
A la larga-extendida-plana persistente ciudad de luces
Plana como un panqueque, encendida como un ?rbol de navidad-
La despierta ciudad, con sus alas extendidas
Extendidas desde las monta?as hacia el oc?ano
Zigzagueante a trav?s de los valles, bosques y riachuelos
Estirando, estirando sus alas desnudas-interminables
Mientras,
Voy descendiendo, abajo, por encima y alrededor de la ciudad
(Descendiendo, descendiendo, y desliz?ndose a la tierra)
La ciudad con las alas extendidas-y luces interminables
Abajo, Abajo, detr?s, alrededor, la tierra, es inmune a m?
S?lo soy parte de esta noche, un bautizado en su oscuro oc?ano
Invisible: gente, gatos, perros, p?jaros, y ratas, infinidad
Incontables: puntos, riachuelos de luz, puntos de luz;
Gente: caminando, conversando, durmiendo, comiendo bajo los puntos de luz
Gente: esperando, matando, robando, rezando bajo los puntos de luz
Por ma?ana, ma?ana y otro ma?ana
Ellos dicen--:
Tu eres implacable, y yo se que esto es verdad
Y ellos me dicen t? tienes ladrones, y muertes-
Y esto, me atrevo a decir, que esto tambi?n es cierto, muy cierto
Pero mu?strame una ciudad de ocho millones contraria --?
Sacudo mis pu?os y digo: "?mu?strame," pero nadie lo hace
Tan viva, tan valerosa, con corazones fuertes y hambrientos:
Digo, mu?strame una que canta en pobreza, y sonr?e
Pru?bame una como esa, que celebra alrededor del a?o a sus h?roes
Mu?strame pintores tan buenos-que venden en las calles-
Tan buenos como: Picasso, Dali, Rembrant y Yang Yang
Y que recibe al mundo con extendidos brazos
Mu?strame todo esto, o algo de esto, y no dir? mas
Con esto,
Desciendo a sus calles, atiborrada, zigzagueantes calles
As? como su raro vecindario con polvo en el aire
Y oigo la risa de los ni?os, los perros en los techos
Vista de los lustrabotas, hombres y muchachos, en los parques
Y los numerosos carros de comida, m?sicos y vendedores de peri?dicos
Y con su desnuda y desplumadas alas, cubriendo todo
-Mi Lima, Per?, con su renombrada catedral:
Amarilla dorada con su coronadas torres, y
Dentro de su plaza cuadrada, una celebrada pileta
Bajo su piel, con sus arrugados ancianos, tiernas mujeres,
Todos ellos parados altos, y reverenciando a su historia inca, su
gloria-
Su mundo que una vez gobern? todo, como el Imperio Romano
Como el sue?o de Am?rica, ellos fueron los nobles, los reyes
Y ahora de pesadez, y esfuerzo, sudor, lucha, todos, todos extenuados, fatigados, este y cada d?a, amantes del Rey de los Reyes: Jesucristo-esta es la Lima que conozco, hoy; un poderoso barco que ya naveg? los siete mares, ahora descansando?
Author/Poet Dennis Siluk, web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com
monthly home cleaning Buffalo Grove ..Twilight, was now beginning. As forthe sun, it was down-down... Read More
I AM SO GRATEFUL for simpler times. Stores were closed... Read More
There once lived an old man and his goodwife On... Read More
There I sat, ninety-five degree weatherOutside; the bookstore caf?, was... Read More
I wish we had met 20 years ago... A different... Read More
Do you ever stare at the paper, waiting for poetic... Read More
Part oneI see them in the skies I hear them... Read More
JOINEDHeart beat of man pounding - yet unheard joined... Read More
1.Night in Jamaica [Peruvianism: 1810]It was a rainy night... Read More
In early fall, in Minnesota, the rain falls, falls, In... Read More
Once upon a midnight dreary, coffee cold and vision... Read More
Writing innovative poetry, the kind of poetry that reputable literary... Read More
[As Told by the Last] King: it was in the... Read More
She raised me like I was her own daughter from... Read More
It's dark, it's cold, its' just six thirty,thoughts of sleep... Read More
[Episode Five]Arizona Blue-GunfighterThe Wolves Nest-in the North[Episode Five]Northern Minnesota Area?Winter... Read More
Learn about love by reading poetry by a long dead... Read More
BoyhoodOh me! Thy glorious days have flown! I mealy noticed,... Read More
Like a cat I slumber, blissfully unencumbered, Through eighty per... Read More
I get up in the morningAnd want to stay in... Read More
Amy King Antidotes for an Alibi BlazeVox Books ISBN 0-9759227-5-0... Read More
Ocean Heal MeOcean heal my wounds Let your waves curl... Read More
1) End PoemWherever you are today- Is where you were... Read More
Tale of the Brick Maker, Of San Jer?nimo, Peru... Read More
Atahualpa's Game [Peruvian]Sometimes, it's not wise To share your wisdom... Read More
scheduled maid service Mundelein ..English VersionAnd the Death God said: "Let it rise to... Read More
I'm not well. Can't you tell? Kinda low, so,... Read More
A poetic comment that just welled up inside my head... Read More
Burning Autumn Leaves [1950s in St. Paul, Minnesota]My long steel... Read More
Thank youDedicated to soldiers and their loved onesFor those who... Read More
When I am climbing up, you are stepping down. When... Read More
You can show your poem to your mom, your spouse,... Read More
Ironically, the passion that can neutralize the repulsion for difficulties... Read More
Ed Gallagher Dec. 11, 1907 - Sept. 5, 2004This poem... Read More
She raised me like I was her own daughter from... Read More
What Hides behind the Minute?What hides behind the minute? It... Read More
What's a prisoner to do when justice fails and... Read More
Tale of the Brick Maker, Of San Jer?nimo, Peru... Read More
(The city by the bay of Northern California, near which... Read More
Bells for Belphegor!...Where immortal veils never meet Belphegor, Arch devil... Read More
It was not me as I am now. It was... Read More
My eyes opened. I am still alive; Living on... Read More
I Shall Wait..On all the new mornings, and every singking... Read More
Sometimes we feel hard-pressed, Our backs against the wall;... Read More
Real Power.One Tsunami, and all our armies, Seem belittled by... Read More
Lord Byron's opening couplet to "She Walks In Beauty" is... Read More
English VersionThe Merchant of Copan [480 AD]Advance: The ballgame at... Read More
If a happiness poem could bring forth a smile, Then... Read More
I WANTED TO SAY IT WITH A BUNCH OF FLOWERS... Read More
Learn about love by reading poetry by a long dead... Read More
Poetry |