Two Poems by Blanca Varela Translated by Liana Kapelke-Dale

May It Be So

The day remains behind,
barely used and already useless.
The great light begins,
all gateways give way to
a sleeping man,
time is a tree that does not stop growing.

Time,
the great half-open door,
the blinding star.

It is not the eyes 
which see born that drop of light 
that will be,
that was, a day. 

Sing, bee, without hurry,
travel the lit labyrinth,
celebrating.

Breathe and sing.
Where everything ends spread your wings.
You are the sun,
the sting of dawn,
the sea that kisses the mountains,
total clarity,
the dream.




Así sea

El día queda atrás,
apenas consumido y ya inútil.
Comienza la gran luz,
todas las puertas ceden ante un hombre
dormido,
el tiempo es un árbol que no cesa de crecer.

El tiempo,
la gran puerta entreabierta,
el astro que ciega.

No es con los ojos que se ve nacer
esa gota de luz que será,
que fue un día.

Canta abeja, sin prisa,
recorre el laberinto iluminado,
de fiesta.

Respira y canta.
Donde todo se termina abre las alas.
Eres el sol,
el aguijón del alba,
el mar que besa las montañas,
la claridad total,
el sueño. 

Whisper

slowness is beauty
I copy these alien lines
I breathe
	I accept the light
beneath the thin November air
beneath colorless grass
beneath the grey worn-out sky
	I accept the mourning
and the celebration

I have not arrived
I will never arrive again
at the center of everything is the poem
intact sun
inescapable night

without turning my head
I prowl its light
	its shadow
animal of words
I sniff out its splendor
its footprints
	its remains
all to say
that once I was
alert defenseless
			alone
almost dead
almost in the fire



Media voz

la lentitud es belleza
copio estas líneas ajenas
respiro
	acepto la luz
bajo el aire ralo de noviembre
bajo la hierba sin color
bajo el cielo cascado y gris
	acepto el duelo
y la fiesta

no he llegado
no llegaré jamás 
en el centro de todo está el poema
intacto sol
ineludible noche

sin volver la cabeza 
merodeo su luz
	su sombra
animal de palabras
husmeo su esplendor
su huella
	sus restos
todo para decir
que alguna vez estuve
atenta desarmada
			sola
casi en la muerte
casi en el fuego

Blanca Varela (1926-2009) was a surrealist poet born in Lima, Peru. With contemporary fellow Peruvian poets, she created a national poetry movement known as “la Generación del 50.” Varela’s work was championed by Octavio Paz, who wrote the introduction to her first volume of poetry, Ese puerto existe (That Port Exists, 1959). Varela has been honored with myriad awards, including the Octavio Paz Prize for poetry in 2001, the Federico Garcia Lorca City of Granada International Poetry Prize in 2006, and Spain’s Queen Sofia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry in 2007. Despite this acclaim, she has not yet been translated extensively into English.

Liana Kapelke-Dale is an ATA Certified Translator (Spanish to English), poet, mixed-media artist, and non-practicing attorney. One of her passions is translating female South American authors and introducing them to the English-speaking world; Liana has translations recent or forthcoming in The New England Review, Poet Lore, and Contemporary Verse 2. She is also the author of the full-length poetry collection Seeking the Pink (Kelsay Books) and two poetry chapbooks. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Liana lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

13 November 2024