Y EL ÓBOLO BAJO LA LENGUA

SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS

 

And sometimes it happens that you are friends and then

You are not friends,

And friendship has passed.

And whole days are lost and among them

A fountain empties itself.

 

And sometimes it happens that you are loved and then

You are not loved,

And love is past.

And whole days are lost and among them

A fountain empties itself into the grass.

 

And sometimes you want to speak to her and then

You do not want to speak,

Then the opportunity has passed.

Your dreams flare up, they suddenly vanish.

 

And also it happens that there is nowhere to go and then

There is somewhere to go,

Then you have bypassed.

And the years flare up and are gone,

Quicker than a minute.

 

So you have nothing.

You wonder if these things matter and then

As soon you begin to wonder if these things matter

They cease to matter,

And caring is past.

And a fountain empties itself into the grass.

Brian Patten.

Y EL ÓBOLO BAJO LA LENGUA

 

You ask for a poem.

I offer you a blade of grass.

You say it is not good enough.

You ask for a poem.

 

I say this blade of grass will do.

It has dressed itself in frost,

It is more immediate

Than any image of my making.

 

You say it is not a poem,

It is a blade of grass and grass

Is not quite good enough.

I offer you a blade of grass.

 

You are indignant.

You say it is too easy to offer grass.

It is absurd.

Anyone can offer a blade of grass.

 

You ask for a poem.

And so I write you a tragedy about

How a blade of grass

Becomes more and more difficult to offer,

 

And about how as you grow older

A blade of grass

Becomes more difficult to accept.

Brian Patten.