Poetry

[Norma Rosa]

Here is a poem by a true "negrista" poet, the Cuban Nicolas Guillen (1902-1989).
Most "negrista" poets of his time were white.
In his works he explores social and political themes.



1. NEGRO BEMB?N

?Po qu? te pone tan brabo,
cuando te dicen negro bemb?n,
si tiene la boca santa,
negro bemb?m?

Bemb?n as? como ere
tiene de t?;
Carid? te mantiene, te lo d? t?.

Te queja todab?a,
negro bemb?n;
sin pega y con harina,
negro bemb?n,
majagua de dr? blanco,
negro bemb?n;
sapato de d? tono,
negro bemb?n.

Bemb?n as? como ere
tiene de t?;
Carid? te mantiene, te lo d? t?.

 

[PICHARDO]

"Para Abuela"


A ti Vicente Estrella, calle a?eja,
a ti vieja avenida, te dedico estas letras.

Vieron tus orillas, mis pies descansar,
tocaron tu asfalto mis delicadas mejillas.

Tu que sabes de mis alegr?as y penas,
tu que compart?as mis noches bohemias.

A ti apenas dedico solo estas l?neas,
cual trovador sin guitarra reti?a.

Cual fuera mi dulce canci?n ma?anera,
la de tu asfalto rondadas por mis pasos.

A ti calle vieja, avenida pasajera,
a ti dedico mis palabras sin anatema.

Quien vio nacer tal gallarda e ilustre v?a?
Quien posara sus plantas de vez primera,
sobre tal majestuosa finura.

Cual calle es como mi avenida?
El tiempo sobre ti no marca, solo pasa.
En tu redor, todos cambian,
aun el generoso framboy?n ya es ca?do.

Mas tu, aun me esperas vieja calle.
Tus mejillas en desnudo a mis pies,
tu calidez se eleva como quien busca cielos.

Si tan solo como ti fuesen los amigos,
quien nunca va ni os deja perdido.

A ti mi vieja calle, avenida de mis recuerdos,
a ti te dedico estas sencillas palabras.

Aunque no hay en mi asfalto como el tuyo,
que se enteren todos de mi orgullo.

Hoy se posan mis pies en tus orillas,
una vez m?s, como otras.
Queriendo recordar y caminar el pasado,
sobre tu asfalto que parece como cielo estrellado.

Gracias mi vieja calle,
gracias por estar en mi camino, vieja Vicente Estrella.


Pichardo 1982

 

[Norma Rosa]

"Para Abuela" Pichardo 1982

Great! Thanks for sharing your talents with us. I enjoyed reading it.

Is this avenue in the capital?

 

[PICHARDO]

Santiago, just off the old Fort.
Wrote that for my grandma, on mother's day 1982 (she was a huge poet).

 

[Kat1144]

Beautiful Pichardo.. thanks for sharing.
Feliz Navidad!

 

[Norma Rosa]

D?cimas

What is a d?cima?

A d?cima is the metric combination of ten octosyllabic lines. The rule to follow when writing a d?cima is this: Line one rhymes with lines four and five; line two rhymes with line three; line six with seven and ten, and line eight with nine.
The following d?cima is from Dominican author Rafael Mart?nez C?spedes, who just published his book Santiago en el coraz?n.

Those of you learning Spanish: I don't think this poem is difficult, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

EL FEN?MENO DE OBAMA

Si sirvi? pues con su dama
haci?ndose archifamoso
un mulato glamoroso
llamado Barack Obama
quien al mundo que lo aclama
debe ahora contestar
como es que piensa llenar
esa gran expectativa
de ese globo a la deriva
que ?l acaba de heredar.

La poderosa naci?n
siempre es ejemplo a imitar
por eso hay que meditar
lo que implica la elecci?n
que cambia la direcci?n
de un pa?s medio quebrado
del que dicen ha olvidado
sus antiguas tradiciones
hace locas invasiones
y perdona el peculado.

Ser? ese hist?rico d?a
del hombre un amigo fiel
pues el color de su piel
no dar? supremac?a
y si all? la mayor?a
al esbelto candidato
le dio tan amplio mandato
con ese s? tan rotundo
est? aceptando que el mundo
es diverso y es mulato

Rafael Mart?nez C?spedes
5 de noviembre de 2008

 

[Norma Rosa]

Here is a Christmas poem by Amado Nervo, considered the greatest Mexican poet of the ninetennth century.


Nochebuena


Pastores y pastoras,
abierto est? el ed?n.
?No o?s voces sonoras?
Jes?s naci? en Bel?n.

La luz del cielo baja,
el Cristo naci? ya,
y en un nido de paja
cual pajarillo est?.

El ni?o est? friolento.
?Oh noble buey,
arropa con tu aliento
al Ni?o Rey!

Los cantos y los vuelos
invaden la extensi?n,
y est?n de fiesta cielos
y tierra... y coraz?n.

Resuenan voces puras
que cantan en tropel:
Hosanna en las alturas
al Justo de Israel!

?Pastores, en bandada
venid, venid,
a ver la anunciada
Flor de David!...

 

[Norma Rosa]

Congoja por Hait?

Please enjoy this beautiful poem. Even those of you learning Spanish should be able to comprehend most of it, if not all. I have translated what I consider to be the most difficult words.

Congoja por Hait? (anguish, grief, sorrow)
Ram?n Tejeda Read | perspectivaciudadana.com | 28-01-2010


Hoy me duele Hait?

y es un muy grande dolor

de humanidad arrasada (demolished, obliterated)

I

Una falla geol?gica

me dicen

una falla secundaria

me advierten

me arranca a Hait? de un zarpazo (bang)

va de Barahona hasta Kingston

me dicen

pero me arranca a Hait? de un zarpazo

de Barahona hasta Kingston

me dicen

como quien sale a pasear el Caribe

pero me arranca a Hait? de un zarpazo

desliza sus brazos hacia este y oeste

me dicen

con temblores de novia reciente

y es su abrazo tan fuerte que duele

Hoy me atormenta en Puerto Pr?ncipe

ma?ana me acongoja en Jacmel

pasado me entristece en Barahona

o Jimani

con su abrazo tan fuerte que duele.

II

Si vas por Puerto Pr?ncipe

ya lo sabes

Jacques Viau estar? ausente

y no sabe

que hay un viento de muerte en sus calles

?l, que en Santo Domingo cuida mis muertos

no sabe

que hay monta?as de cad?veres en sus calles

As? que si vas por Hait?

ya lo sabes

pon tu mano silente en la sangre (put)

yace humano con cada cad?ver (lie down)

da tu beso inmortal a cada hijo de haitiana (give)

y trae a Jacques Viau (bring)

su frescura

su relente (boldness, assurance)

su ternura

trae a Jacques Viau la tibieza de sus hermanos (lukewarmness)

tr?ele su canto milenario

para que pueda tranquilo cuidar

a los muertos de nuestra ciudad.

Si vas por Hait?

no te olvides

trae a Jacques Viau su mensaje

ya lo sabes.

III

Canto por Hait?

porque ya no se puede cantar por nada

Hait? se ha bebido las palabras

de un solo trago

de un solo sorbo de amargura

y ahora no se puede cantar por nada

Ayer

la vida era un poema de camino y de esperanza

Hoy

Hait? se lo ha tragado todo

Se bebi? el diccionario

mastic? cada letra

evapor? cada t?rmino

engull? cada voz

y defec? cada vocablo

Apenas he tenido tiempo

para salvar uno: solidaridad

Es todo lo que ha quedado

Por eso hoy canto por Hait?

porque hoy no se puede cantar por nada.

IV

Capturo silencios

remiendo ansiedades

mascullo la nada

que crece en las calles

musito una rabia

un dolor

una pena

un llanto violento

una espera



Farfullo lamentos

adelgazo palabras

reviso rincones

llenando vac?os

presiento ese viento que carga dolores

susurros

espacios sin nombre

Pero es que hoy duele Hait?

y es un muy grande dolor

de humanidad estragada. (destroyed)

 

[Norma Rosa]

Poem to Barack Obama

Dominican-American writer, Julia Alvarez, wrote this poem for the President's inauguration. Enjoy.

January 20, 2009


The land was never ours, nor we the land?s:
no, not in Selma, with the hose turned on,
nor in the valley picking the alien vines.
Nor was it ours at Watts, Montgomery?
no matter what the frosty poet said.
We heard the crack of whips, the mothers? moans
in anthems like the undertow of grief.
The land was never ours but we believed
a King?s dream might some day become a deed
to what we did not own, though it was owed us.
(Who had the luxury to withhold himself?)
No gift outright for us, we earned this land
with sorrow?s currency: our hands, our backs,
our Rosas, martins, Jesses, our Baracks.
Today we give our land what we withheld:
the right at last to call itself one nation.


For more information, see Julia Alvarez: official author website

 

[Norma Rosa]

Moderator, could you please delete post #69? Thanks. Why is it one cannot delete?

 

[? bient?t]

"no matter what the frosty poet said."

Julia, Juliana, que mala eres!
You could've been more creative

 

[Norma Rosa]

"no matter what the frosty poet said."

Julia, Juliana, que mala eres!
You could've been more creative

Could you expand on it? Her poem is a rebuttal to the poem Robert Frost wrote for Kennedy's inauguration.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/lo...can-novelist-writes-poem-for-new-US-president

 

[? bient?t]

Could you expand on it? Her poem is a rebuttal to the poem Robert Frost wrote for Kennedy's inauguration.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/lo...can-novelist-writes-poem-for-new-US-president

I know exactly what poem she's talking about. But I think the word play on RF's name is too easy, don't you think? And especially the line, "...[n]o matter what the... said" is too much to the point, too blunt, sorta like an in-your-face, "you old sod."

Am I supposed to give her a pass 'cause she's a famous Dominican? I like her style, and I think she would welcome criticism. If I ever meet her, I'll ask her about it.

 

[Norma Rosa]

Ren? del Risco Berm?dez -poeta petromacorisano

Ren? del Risco Berm?dez, “el Cantor de la Guerra del 65” was from San Pedro de Macor?s. Anti-trujillista to the core, he was only 23 years old when he was apprehended and sent to La 40, one of Trujillo’s torture chambers. (One of the few lucky ones to come out of it alive.) He wrote the following poem during the war of 1965. Those of you learning Spanish, feel free to ask questions.

Meditaci?n en la Guerra

Todos lo sab?an.
Lo sab?a el le?ador desde su alba sudorosa.
Lo sab?a el alba?il ,
el hacedor de libros,
y el pescador...

Tambi?n lo sab?a el viento
cuando tra?a el agrio olor de los cad?veres,
y la novia que se quedaba sola,
y la Madre con los labios partidos
por el llanto...

Lo sab?an tambi?n...
Lo sab?an todos
sin preguntarse el d?a,
el sitio de las llamas,
el hogar del polvo y agria brisa.
Hasta los hombres timoratos lo sab?an (timorato= t?mido)
sin querer repet?rselo
hundi?ndose en la cama por las noches
para no escuchar el estallido...

Todos lo sab?an...
Por miedo, lo sab?an.
Por odio, lo sab?an.
Por el luto (luto= mourning)
y la costumbre,
lo sab?an...

Todos estaban ciertos...
Vendr?a un turbio d?a de paredes calientes;
un d?a amarillento,
subterr?neo,
anegado en aguas extra?as,
y cabezas de musgo endurecido...
Ser?a un d?a de largas u?as
y de fuerte madera bajo el brazo.
La misma forma del plomo
la tomar?a la luz en las esquinas,
se alejar?an las dulces cabelleras queridas
en una niebla de terror...
Nombres que eran para el amor
parecer?an palabras enemigas;
y todo caer?a de repente
en el pozo del miedo,
en un s?rdido t?nel
con animales que huyen de la muerte...!

Todos estaban ciertos.
Vendr?a el momento de los dedos retorcidos
como ra?ces en la tierra.
Vendr?a el momento de las bocas rotas
contra el cemento y los cristales.
Vendr?a el momento del coraz?n crujiendo,
apret?ndose como un pu?o,
o una piedra...
Vendr?a para todos...
Vendr?a.

Primero fue la voz
y la pisada...
Despu?s, la boca del fusil
y el golpe.
Luego vino la llama,
y fue la risa y la mano
en las cenizas,
el duro cr?neo bajo el metal y el ruido
y los quemados p?jaros
y la soledad...

 

[Angelfobia]

Ok, this is not really a poem... or poetry, but a "cuento" dominicano. To me, the best ever written. For those who do understand enough spanish, please feel free to read it. It bring tears to my eyes everytime I get to the last 2 paragraphs.

Ahora que vuelvo Ton, by Rene del Risco Bermudez:
Ahora que vuelvo, Ton | Barriga Verde

PS: There is also a song from Pavel Nu?ez about this Story. (who is a close family member of this extraordinary dominican writter)

Hope you enjoy!!!

 

[Norma Rosa]

Ok, this is not really a poem... or poetry, but a "cuento" dominicano. To me, the best ever written. For those who do understand enough spanish, please feel free to read it. It bring tears to my eyes everytime I get to the last 2 paragraphs.

Ahora que vuelvo Ton, by Rene del Risco Bermudez:
Ahora que vuelvo, Ton | Barriga Verde

PS: There is also a song from Pavel Nu?ez about this Story. (who is a close family member of this extraordinary dominican writter)

Hope you enjoy!!!

So, so beautiful! It is a short story that reads like poetry.

I found a translation of it.
Remaking a lost harmony: stories ... - Google Books

 

[Norma Rosa]

Blas Jim?nez (Afro-Dominican poet)

Blas Jim?nez, author, university professor, award- winning journalist, TV producer, essayist, member of the Academia Dominicana de la Lengua, died November, 2009 -a terrible loss to the DR. He was best known as "el poeta de la negritud".


?Qu? Soy?
Dominicano, Americano, Antillano
Negro Africano que siente el bongo
un negro loco en un mundo blanco, mundo espa?ol.

Tengo que sentirme negro
por las tantas veces que fui blanco
tengo que sentirme negro
por las tantas veces que fui indio
tengo que sentirme negro
porque soy negro
soy la contradicci?n de mi historia
soy el llamdo a re-escribirla
re-escribir la historia de esta tierra.


My translation:

What am I?
Dominican, American, Antillean
Black African that feels the bongo
A crazy negro in a white world, a Spanish world.

I have to feel black
For the many times that I was white
I have to feel black
For the many times I was Indian
I have to feel black
Because I am black
I am the contradiction of my history
I am the one called to rewrite it
To rewrite the history of this land.



bongo: Cuban percussion instrument of African origin
Indio: A skin color descriptor (Term used by many in the DR to avoid using black.)

 

[Marianopolita]

Excelente----

Norma, I am not a connoisseur when it comes to poetry but I know a bit about some of the renowned Latin American poets from different literary eras.

This kind of poetry though is one my favourite genres, what I call 'social consciousness' writing.

Whenever I read poetry like this I feel good, proud, almost relieved that this type of poetry exists in Latin America so that people can read about how many others like this poet feel when it comes to their (suppressed) identity. In a land with a complex history and as a result a complex identity,the DR is exemplary in many ways and 'atrasado' in the same nature. I think the way the poet goes back and forth about who he is and who he had to be is a reflection of a complex social construct which is ingrained in the DR and in a broad sense Afro Latino identity which applies to a few other countries.

This poet reminds me of Nicol?s Guill?n, a renowned Afro-Cuban poet who expressed the same afro sentiment in a complex social construct in Cuba, under the guise of equality when there was open discrimination against mulattoes and Black Cubans. It's not always easily recognized and recognizable in Latin America but the subtlety of it is forever present. However, the dynamic is changing though in Latin America, very slowly but surely and "el Afro-Antillanismo" today is not the same as it was a few decades ago- and that's a good thing.


-MP.

 

[Norma Rosa]

Whenever I read poetry like this I feel good, proud, almost relieved that this type of poetry exists in Latin America so that people can read about how many others like this poet feel when it comes to their (suppressed) identity. In a land with a complex history and as a result a complex identity,the DR is exemplary in many ways and 'atrasado' in the same nature. I think the way the poet goes back and forth about who he is and who he had to be is a reflection of a complex social construct which is ingrained in the DR and in a broad sense Afro Latino identity which applies to a few other countries.

This poet reminds me of Nicol?s Guill?n, a renowned Afro-Cuban poet who expressed the same afro sentiment in a complex social construct in Cuba, under the guise of equality when there was open discrimination against mulattoes and Black Cubans. It's not always easily recognized and recognizable in Latin America but the subtlety of it is forever present. However, the dynamic is changing though in Latin America, very slowly but surely and "el Afro-Antillanismo" today is not the same as it was a few decades ago- and that's a good thing.


-MP.

Read more:
MiamiHerald.com | Afro-Latin Americans

 

[Norma Rosa]

Whenever I read poetry like this I feel good, proud, almost relieved that this type of poetry exists in Latin America so that people can read about how many others like this poet feel when it comes to their (suppressed) identity. In a land with a complex history and as a result a complex identity,the DR is exemplary in many ways and 'atrasado' in the same nature. I think the way the poet goes back and forth about who he is and who he had to be is a reflection of a complex social construct which is ingrained in the DR and in a broad sense Afro Latino identity which applies to a few other countries.

This poet reminds me of Nicol?s Guill?n, a renowned Afro-Cuban poet who expressed the same afro sentiment in a complex social construct in Cuba, under the guise of equality when there was open discrimination against mulattoes and Black Cubans. It's not always easily recognized and recognizable in Latin America but the subtlety of it is forever present. However, the dynamic is changing though in Latin America, very slowly but surely and "el Afro-Antillanismo" today is not the same as it was a few decades ago- and that's a good thing.-MP.

The objective in writing poetry should be to testify, and Blas Jim?nes does that and does it cuccinctly. He belongs to a second wave of Afro-Hispanic writers together with
Nancy Morejon (Cuba) and Carlos G. Wilson (Panama).

"Under Trujillo, being black was the worst thing you could be," said Afro-Dominican poet Blas Jim?nez. "Now we are Dominican, because we are not Haitian. We are something, because we are not that."
Jim?nez remembers when he got his first passport, the clerk labeled him "Indian." He protested to the director of the agency.
"I remember the man saying, ‘If he wants to be black, let him be black!' '' Jim?nez said

More on Blas Jim?nez from DR1 -
Music, Literature and Culture in the Dominican Republic

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University