THE COUNTRY OF ICE XIII

Original publication by Chilean poet Raúl Zurita, with translation by poet Daniel Borzutzky.
February 9, 2015

 

THE COUNTRY OF ICE XIII

And the icebergs of the Andes were

outlined to the right

facing the glaciers of the Pacific

 

- In the icebergs

  of the east

 

And in the middle:  the long and thin

strip: 

the frosted homeland of sobs

 

- In the icebergs

  of the west

 

And the frozen cliff on the left of the sea separated the left

side of the ice and the cliff on the right separated the right

side of the ice

 

And expanding on the left were the icebergs of the defeat

of pain     of death     And piled up on the right were the icebergs of

madness     of the betrayals     of the murders    And it was the night

 

And it was the thick walls of the frozen american night

howling as they saw our crying people move between them    

and they were nothing more than remains    leftovers  

freezing rubble those who crossed screaming there where

all the Pacific is an iceberg and compared to us the icebergs are warm   we are devastated   marching between those sobs

 

EL PAÍS DE HIELO XIII

Y los témpanos de los Andes se

recortaban a la derecha

frente a los glaciares del Pacífico

 

- En los témpanos

  del este

 

Y en el medio: la larga y delgada

franja:  

la escarchada patria de sollozos

 

- En los témpanos

  del oeste

 

Y el congelado paredón de la izquierda del mar apartaba

la izquierda de los hielos y el paredón de la derecha

apartaba los hielos de la derecha

 

Y a la izquierda se alargaban los témpanos de la derrota  

del dolor   de la muerte   Y a la derecha se amontonaban

los témpanos de la demencia     de las traiciones    de los

asesinatos   Y era la noche

 

Y eran los murallones de la congelada noche americana

los que bramaban viendo al pueblo nuestro avanzar

llorando entre ellos   Y eran sólo restos   sobras   helados

escombros los que atravesaban gritando allá donde todo

el Pacífico es un témpano y los témpanos son cálidos al

lado nuestro   arrasados     marchando entre esos sollozos


Raúl Zurita’s books of poems include, among others: Purgatorio (1979), Anteparaíso (1982), El paraíso está vacío (1984), Canto a su amor desaparecido (1985), La vida nueva (1994), and Poemas militantes (2000). His numerous awards include the National Literature Prize of Chile and the Pablo Neruda Prize. He lives in Santiago, Chile, where he is a professor of literature at Universidad Diego Portales. Translated by Daniel Borzutzky, who has translated three of Raúl Zurita’s books, and whose work has been supported by the PEN American Center, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Illinois Arts Council. 


Read the rest of NACLA's 2015 Winter Issue: Mapping the Moment

Tags: Raúl Zurita, Daniel Borzutzky, andes, icebergs, Glaciers, poetry


Like this article? Support our work. Donate now.