Ballad of what the wind said to me
Eternity easily could have been
a forgotten horse
and the lonely cooing
of a lost dove.
In the moment we walk away
from each other, a telling wind
comes to open ears and eyes
to stranger things.
Today I walked away from life,
and alone, in this gully,
I looked at the river,
and found myself with a horse,
and the lonely cooing of a lost dove
Like someone passing by,
the wind came skin to skin,
and choking it cried—
“Eternity may be a river only,
a forgotten horse,
and the lonely cooing
of a lost dove.”
Author: Rafael Albertí
Translator: Manny Grimaldi
14 thoughts on "Ballad of what the wind said to me"
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Such a sad haunting poem.
it give me chills
Ah, the power of repetition and image. Yes, a very haunting poem. So many images of loneliness.
Beautiful, Manny.
wonderful!
especially the unmixing skinbound wind
Lovely poem, thanks for translating
That repitition though ??
Repetition even
ooh, this is so beautiful. I’ve never thought to do translations before…getting ideas…thanks!
thank you Jasmine
Wow, especially “I walked away from life.” Do you know “The animal I wanted” by Kenneth Patchen? Obe of my favorites, and it ends with a similar line.
never read it……. I’ll check it out.
Thank you for the translation. We need them!
I agree 🙂