Nidia Hernández: Únicamente mar | Only Sea

Únicamente mar

Desde hace días
crece algo parecido a la nada

La blanda brújula del corazón
toma un camino de agua
luego de ir de una galaxia a otra

No puedo hacer nada
por ti o por mí
por el silencio
que el viento extiende
y lleva lejos
por la escala invertida
y perenne de los días
por el reloj que vaga
ciego
fugaz
indiferente

El radar de la memoria
rastrea
lugares
voces
bambúes
la lumbre de una casa en la montaña
un silencio que amo
y personas que te esperan

Todo comienza a desaparecer
salvo la luz parpadeante
de las luciérnagas
y todo se vuelve posible
es posible ser una tortuguita
indefensa
frágil
sobreviviente
que vuelve al océano
sin saber nada de sus antepasados
y aún así
cumple invariable
el perímetro de sus ancestros
en el aro del mar y de la arena

es probable
que todo sea
únicamente mar

~~~

Only sea

Translated by Rowena Hill

For days now
something like nothingness is growing

the heart’s soft compass
takes a watery path
after going from one galaxy to another

I can’t do anything
for you or for me
for the silence
that the wind spreads
and carries far
for the inverted and perennial
scale of the days
for the clock roaming
blind
fleeting
indifferent

The radar of memory
traces
places
voices
bamboos
the fire in a house on the mountain
a silence I love
and people waiting for you

Everything starts to vanish
except the flickering light
of the fireflies
and everything becomes possible
it’s possible to be a little turtle
helpless
fragile
surviving
returning to the ocean
knowing nothing of its forebears
and even so
it invariably follows
the perimeter of its ancestors
in the circle of the sea and the sand

It’s probable
that everything is
only sea.

~~~~~

Nidia Hernández was born in Venezuela, and has been living in the US since 2018. She is a poet and translator of Portuguese poetry, an editor, broadcaster, and radio producer, and a poetry curator. Nidia directs the editorial project lamajadesnuda.com, which won the 2011 WSA prize for Cultural Heritage. She curates Poesiaudio (Arrowsmith Press) and is a contributor for Mercurius Magazine. She has presented works drawn from the 31 years of her radio program (also called La maja desnuda) which has more than 1,560 broadcasts. Currently, she is broadcasting the program through UPV Radio 102.5 FM in Valencia, Spain.

Copyright 2024 Nidia Hernández. Translation copyright Rowena Hill. From The Farewell Light (2024, Arrowsmith)