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 🙂