Grenades / Bullet
by Salomón de la Selva
Translated by Joel Whitney
Grenades
Because they were like birds
flying, the grenades—
barn swallows late in the afternoons—
it surprised me how, like a thing of magic,
from where they landed
with a stupendous boom,
with trunks and branches,
conscious, astonishing trees of dirt rose.
In its airborne limbs
hidden in the foliage of mud,
a forgotten desire made
itself into a momentary nest:
For sleeping in the woods maybe,
or for growing wings;
inside a wish fit many others
when you’re tired almost to death.
Bullet
The bullet that strikes me
will have a soul.
Its soul will be
like a rose’s song,
if flowers could sing,
or the fragrance of topaz
if stones gave off scent,
or the skin of music
if songs could be held,
naked in our hands.
And if it strikes my brain
it will say: I wanted
to sound out your thoughts.
And if it pierces my chest,
it will say: I wanted
to tell you how I love you!
Granadas
Porque me parecieron
pájaros que volaban las granadas—
golondrinas de los atardeceres,—
me sorprendió cómo cosa de magia
ver que en donde caían
con un estruendo vasto, levantaban
espirituales árboles de tierra
maravillosos de troncos y de ramas.
En el ramaje aéreo de esos árboles,
escondido en el follaje de barro,
hizo su nido de un instante
un deseo olvidado:
Tal vez de dormir en medio de un bosque,
quizás de tener alas;
¡tantos deseos caben en sólo uno
cuando se está casi muerto de cansansio!
La Bala
La bala que me hiera
será bala con alma.
El alma de esa bala
sera como seria
la canción de una rosa
si las flores cantaran,
o el olor de un topacio
si las piedras olieran,
o la piel de una música
si nos fuese posible
tocar a las canciones
desnudas con las manos.
Y si me hiere el cerebro
me dirá: Yo buscaba
sondear tu pensamiento.
Y si me hiere el pecho
me dirá: ¡Yo quería
decirte que te quiero!
Salomón de la Selva (1883 - 1959) was a Nicaraguan poet and honorary member of the Mexican Academy of Language. He wrote in English and Spanish. His first book, Tropical Town and Other Poems, was published in New York in 1918.
Joel Whitney is the author of Finks: How the CIA Tricked the World’s Best Writers and a winner of the 2003 Discovery Prize from the 92nd Street Y and The Nation Magazine.
