Ecopoesia

Genesis

Homero Aridjis

Here in this town, not found on any map,

light was made in the darkness of a room.

The waters were divided from the waters. The air

that ran through the mountain blew the breath of life in.

 

Here where the heavenly bodies began to lord it

over the day and the night, the eyes looked at one

          other

in the solitude of the bed, and their igniferous glow

lit the arteries of the being preconceived.

 

Here where the first instant smelt of breast

and woman’s hands, cool sheet, ripe fig

and rain on the outside wall,

I glimpsed light’s infinite smile.

 

Here in Contepec, place between the hills and the

          plains,

situated at an altitude of 2,481 meters above sea

          level,

behind a window the oceans of the earth were born,

and the whale, turtle and butterfly flew under a roof.

 

Here, in the arms of a woman treading softly,

the word was uttered for the first time. The stones,

the trees, the beings and the streets had a name and

          voice.

The birds of poetry sang inside me.

 

 

 

Aridjis, Homero. “Genesis." Poemas solares: Solar Poems. Trans. George McWhirter. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2010. p. 242.




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