A poem by Vicente Huidobro, translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Simkins.

We now proceed to the unanimous moment
Revealed by the great curtain of the waves
For the heart’s formations and its progress
For a thing of the vault and its interiors
For the alchemy of departing one’s opposite
In binary traffic purple or shrouded

The air stripped of its ocean
Knew what was coming
Like an anthill snaking through a jungle
To the staggering noises of profaned sands

The ocean stripped of its waves
Cried against the rain
Whistled its coals into bloom
And surrendered everything to the primal origin of motion

Five dead and twenty wounded
Said the disaster and covered its eyes
The unanimous moment followed the heart
Past the curtain liberated from the ocean
Someone saw their home vanishing
And the sky dispersed into the air and its interiors

The problem is simple
The waves are divided
The plane tips over the air sings
In irrevocable fashion
The volcano sighs its ancient dreams
Or the heart alone hails its health
The waves shake hands and say goodbye

 

VICENTE HUIDOBRO & JONATHAN SIMKINS