Even Time Bleeds: Selected Poems
Jeannette L. Clariond
From Blindness, Where You Find Yourself
Homelessness
No, it wasn’t the winter with an ice sword
held up in its weary arm.
It wasn’t the stubborn rain flooding the crops
or the shearwaters at the ridge.
It wasn’t even those thick clouds sipping at the eaves.
No.
It was me, me with my habitual absence,
abandoning the nest in the storm.
*
From Regarding the Frond and the Measure
Looking At What’s Looked At
On the wall, only reflections.
:::::::::::: Nothing is really there,
nor is the real any guide to salvation.
But the glow of golden leaves
:::::::::::: —all foliage—
is a beginning, for when the sun sets and darkness
writes itself over the plants, something ignites at their core.
A root sends up its frond to convince us
to recede into the silence of fragrant agave,
and to channel the fresh blood of desire into a new vein
—into the mirror of the mirror in the seed—.
At a glance, the tree is flawless. Poplar
and blood. Poplar,
blood.
Each trajectory of the stars is dawnward,
while on earth, our void expands.
One last day, the vertical flower—that vastness
of sky that regards us
while we regard it—will draw together
:::::::::::: in a single instant
all the tendernesses of water.
Excerpted from EVEN TIME BLEEDS: Selected Poems © 2025 by Jeannette L. Clariond. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.
You can buy the book HERE
Jeannette L. Clariond es poeta, traductora y fundadora de Vaso Roto Ediciones. Licenciada en Filosofía y con maestría en Letras Españolas, ha sido becaria Rockefeller/CONACULTA y Banff, y colaborado en diversos consejos culturales y editoriales. Su trabajo ha sido publicado en medios como El País, ABC, Reforma, New York Times y Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos. Reconocida como una de las principales traductoras al español de Anne Carson, forma parte de la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española y su comisión de traducción. Es autora de una amplia obra poética y ha traducido a autores como Alda Merini, Charles Wright y Anne Carson. En 2021 recibió el Mérito Artístico Colegio Civil otorgado por la UANL.
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What a joy to dip into Even Time Bleeds: Selected Poems! The excerpts shared here feel like stepping into a quietly shifting landscape of thought and emotion, where the ordinary and the philosophical dance together in surprising ways. There’s this beautiful tension between absence and presence, like the poems are coaxing light out of silence, and suddenly you’re reflecting on something deeper without even noticing it happening. The language is rich and image‑laden, and I found myself lingering over lines that seemed simple at first, only to reveal whole worlds on a second look.
It’s clear that this collection isn’t just about pretty images or clever phrases — there’s real intellectual and emotional gravity at work. The writer’s voice feels intimate and expansive all at once, inviting you to slow down and sit with the words. After reading these snippets, I’m genuinely intrigued to explore more of Clariond’s work and see how the full collection unfolds. If you love poetry that gently shifts your perspective and stays with you afterward, this seems like a release worth watching for.