| |
Francisco X.
Alarcón
USA
|
Francisco X. Alarcón is an acclaimed poet and
educator, author of ten volumes of poetry. Alarcón is the recipient of
1993 American Book Award, the 1993 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award,
and the 1984 Chicano Literary Prize. In April 2002 he received the
Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bay Area Book Reviewers
Association (BABRA). He was one of the three finalists
nominated for the state poet laureate of California. Alarcón was also
awarded the 1997 Pura Belpré Honor Award by the American Library
Association and the National Parenting Publications Gold Medal. He
also received 2002 Pura Belpré Honor Award, Danforth and Fulbright
fellowships, 1998 Carlos Pellicer-Robert Frost Poetry Honor Award by
the Third Binational Border Poetry Contest, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
Alarcón's most recent books are Sonnets to
Madness and Other Misfortunes / Sonetos a la locura y otras penas
(Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company 2001) and From the Other Side of
Night / Del otro lado de la noche: New and Selected Poems (University
of Arizona Press 2002). He currently teaches at the University of
California, Davis. |
Poor Poets
to Miguel Ángel Flores
poets go astray
on the streets
like chicks fallen
from their nest
they bump into
light posts that
without warning
cross their path
courteous as ever
they ask empty
park benches
for permission to sit
nobody knows
not even they
why wings sprout
on their shoulders
maybe one day
they'll finally use
that key they carry
forever in their pocket
Pobres poetas
a Miguel Ángel Flores
por las calles
rondan poetas
como pajaritos
caídos del nido
dan con los postes
del alumbrado
que de pronto
les salen al paso
ceremoniosos
les piden permiso
a las bancas vacias
de los parques
nadie sabe ni ellos
mismos por qué
en los homros
les brotan alas
un día quizá
usen
por fin esa llave
que desde siempre
traen en el bolsillo
From the Other Side of Night
what to say
about silence
the pages
left
unwritten
the books
in which
we are yet
to be
appear
exist
this life
condemned
to oblivion
here
nobody knows
nor will know
of the sea
we carry
within us
Del otro lado
de la noche
qué decir
ante
el silencio
las páginas
que se quedan
sin escribir
los libros
en donde
todavia
ni somos
ni estamos
ni existimos
esta vida
condenada
al olvido
aquí
nadie sabe
ni sabrá
del mar
que llevamos
adentro
X
"there are two ways in the world: to see
yourself one day in the mirror, or never see
your true self-image, to see yourself is to live,
not seeing yourself is death," you tell me
"look at me, I am more than my look,
more than a passing smile on a street,
more than piled horizons, the one who looks
at you is more than the one you look at"
"seeing myself in you, I discover who I am,
I want you to see yourself likewise in me:
looking at me, see yourself looking at you"
"look at me, for I see myself in you,
look at me, for you are my mirror,
look at me, I want to be yours"
De amor oscuro/Of Dark Love
Sonnet X
"dos caminos hay en el mundo: el verse
un dia en un espejo o el nunca llegar
a verse de veras, verse es vivir,
no verse, estar muerto," me aleccionas
"mírame, yo soy más
que mi mirada,
más que una sonrisa en plena calle,
más que todos los horizontes juntos:
el que te mira es más que
ése que miras"
"al verme en ti, descubro lo que soy,
así quiero que tu te veas en mí:
que al mírarme te mires mirándote"
"mirame que me estoy mirándo en ti,
mírame que tú
eres espejo mio,
mírame que yo quiero ser el tuyo"
The X in My Name
the poor
signature of
my illiterate
and peasant self
giving away
all rights
in a deceptive
contract for life
Mestizo
my name
is not
Francisco
there is
an Arab
within me
who prays
five times
each day
behind
my Roman
nose
there is
a Phonecian
smiling
my eyes
still see
Sevilla
but
my mouth
is Olmec
my dark
hands are
Toltec
my cheekbones
fierce
Chichimec
my feet
recognize
no border
no rule
no code
no lord
for this
wanderer's
heart
------------------
All poems appear in From the Other Side of Night
(Del otroladode la noche)
New and Selected Poems
by Francisco X. Alarcón from University
of Arizona Press 2002
© All Copyright, Francisco X.
Alarcón.
All Rights Reserved. Printed By
Permission.
|