Poetry
TWO POEMS

TWO POEMS

Dos poemas

Rodolfo Mata

English versions by Tanya Huntington

COMMONPLACE

It is commonplace
to find common places
You come across them whenever you awake
from a nightmare
whenever you open the door
and say goodbye
whenever you come home
thinking of tomorrow
whenever you write with lapidary
hope

It is commonplace to don glasses
vomit or masturbate
read the Sunday paper
while drinking coffee
take the car in for repairs
and find it a nuisance
wander through displays
at the shopping mall

These are the individuals
who anonymously take on
the world eyes wide open

These are the contortionist
sneezes
that shake like restless
words in the dictionary

This is the song
under the showerhead
circus in full swing
eyes irritated
by the shampoo

That’s why I prefer
odd places
cubed surprises
the antipodes of what will be
under many masks
against the grain of your desire
in ways so different
you will never hear the end of it


PORTRAIT ON THE VERANDA

The love of the Broom
gets an early start
finding it vital
to wipe out the traces
and continue hands-feet-head
ribs tucked in
as you put
everything in its place
to avoid the noise

Old Conscience
smokes its old pipe
among wrinkles

While you and Body
sow
out in the field
sighting the gale

Clock strikes
its right angle
of three on the dot

And on the Veranda
that strange visitor arrives
many mouths
top hat in hand
a bit blind
bearing his cane

So I was told
by a little voyeur bird
before it dropped dead
never finding
its place
in time

 

Rodolfo Mata (1960) has published the books of poetry Parajes and parallax (1998), Temporal (2008), What to say (2011), Our name (2015) among others. His blog is rodolfomata.blogspot.com Twitter: @rmata2009

©Literal Publishing

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *