Banpo *

There are clouds in the water

and coriander leaves.

And, as in the summers

of my childhood,

the air smells of soot.

Under its slow vault,

roses and trees of life,

a transparent

geometric center,

and their color touches me,

more than in life,

with my breath.

I breathe in the lotus

of snowy red lava,

and I know that one day

several centuries ago

I was,
and I will be here.

Jaime Siles, Spain

Translation Germain Droogenbroodt – Stanley Barkan

from: «Pasos en la nieve«, (Tusquets, Barcelona, 2004).

* Banpo, archaeological place in China