I LOVE TO TOUCH LEAVES

I LOVE TO TOUCH LEAVES

More than books
Magazines
And newspapers,
More than moving lips
Repeating the books
The magazines
The disasters,
I love to touch leaves
To cover my face with leaves
And feel their freshness
See the world
Through their screened light
Through their green,
And to listen to my silence
That matures
And vibrates on my lips
And breaks down on my tongue,
And to listen to the earth
Which breathes.
And the earth is my body
And I am the body
Of the earth.
Claribel

CLARIBEL ALEGRÍA, NICARAGUA (1924 – 2018)

Translation Germain Droogenbroodt – Stanley Barkan

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ME GUSTA PALPAR HOJAS // Más que libros/Revistas/Y periódicos/Más que móviles labios/Que repiten los libros,/Las revistas,/Los desastres,/Me gusta palpar hojas/Cubrirme el rostro de hojas/Y sentir su frescura/Ver el mundo/A través de su tamizada/A través de sus verdes/Y escuchar mi silencio/Que madura/Y titila en mis labios/Y se rompe en mi lengua/Y escuchar a la tierra/Que respira/Y la tierra es mi cuerpo/Y yo soy el cuerpo/De la tierra/Claribel