Los argonautas se albergaron
en la oscuridad de mis zapatos
y un dragón azul acudió
a encenderme la estufa.
El cielo limpio se escondió
en las gavetas del armario,
lo que explica el silencio
de los pájaros y el exceso
de neblina en la ropa que me puse.
Hoy la soledad es un vaivén
de fantasías.
Mejor así.
Ayer el día desató un
huracán de anzuelos
que dejó al mar vacío
y al sol humedecido
como ojo de ballena herida.
Marooned
The argonauts took shelter
in the darkness of my shoes
and a blue dragon arrived
to light the stove for me.
The clear sky hid
in my dresser drawers
which explains the silence
of the birds and the excess
of mist in the clothes I put on.
Today solitude is an ebbing and flowing
of fantasy.
Better this way.
Yesterday set off a
hurricane of fish hooks
that left the sea empty
and the sun slick
like the eye of an injured whale.
Added: Monday, July 14, 2014 / English Translation: Andrea Johnson. Used with permission.
Carlos Parada Ayala is the author of the poetry book, La luz de la tormenta/The Light of the Storm (Zozobra Publishing, Maryland, 2013) and co-editor of the anthology Al pie de la Casa Blanca: Poetas hispanos de Washington, DC (North American Academy of the Spanish Language, New York, 2010.) This poetry anthology, co-edited with Argentinian poet Luis Alberto Ambroggio, was selected by the US Library of Congress to celebrate 400 years of poetry written in Spanish in the United States. Parada Ayala is a recipient of Washington, DC's, Commission on the Arts Larry Neal Poetry Award and has received the Commission's individual artist's fellowship.
