Cuando Nombro La Poesía

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Two old shoes and Carlota
And a terrible hatred for the boot
Ill-conceived and ill-born in the north.

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Two verses on my mother's chest
A first student cigarette
And a drunk staggering in the street.

Not all Sundays are
For rest they are not
And on a Sunday one of our birds
Beautifully flew away
I felt the tremendous flapping
In the cold full moon of pain.

I mention Whitman,
Neruda and Vallejo
And the verse written
On the wall of a prison
I mention a river pregnant with canoes
The betrayed poetry of Andrés Eloy
I mention a river...

I mention Rafael Alberti and his seafaring poetry
I mention Hernández and García Lorca
And the human gospel of Ernesto Cardenal
I mention Gabriela from Chile
And the simple verse of Martí
I mention the bird that brings us good tidings
I mention them all when I sing to life
And to Guillén's dark poetry.

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Solidary heart, friendly hand
When I mention him
I also get dizzy and cry
For our main
Non-renewable natural resource.

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Solitude with her bouquet of roses
And a triumphant flight of butterflies
Over a town singing in major key.
I mention the blooming skin of my land
And the peace sustained by the plow
I mention the path where hope sleeps
And the ear of corn kissed by a Latin American wind.