psotevia

VIAJES

JOURNEYS

Rafael Felipe Oteriño

trans. Brian Cole

Buscábamos ciudades como se buscan faros:
sólo para comprobar que continuaban allí.
Eran viajes realizados sin otra brújula
que el reflejo de antiguas ventanas.

¿Pero quiénes estaban allí?

Los mismos árboles sin sus voces,
las mismas palabras sin sus colores,
otras monedas, calladas, en el agua.

Lo que ha pasado fueron años:

arena o piel que no regresan a su sitio,
cabeza o cristal que no recuerdan,
sin responder qué es la lejanía.

We looked for cities as you look for lighthouses,
only to check that they are still there.
There were journeys made with no other compass
than the reflection from ancient windows.

But who was here?

The same trees are their voices,
the same words are their colours,
other coins, silent, in the water.

What passed by was the years:

sand on skin that did not go back to its origin,
head or crystal that had no memory,
and gave no information about the distance.

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