POEMA DE LA LIBERTAD
Note: English translation follows
by Sandra Santana
Dedicado a Ana Belén Montes y Nina Droz*
El golpeteo decidido en los cristales
Invade la duermevela
Llueve
Las almas caminan de prisa
Como si huyeran
Van sorteando el mal tiempo
Entrampadas por el aguacero
Aprietan el paso
Examinan la vía, evaden riesgos
Llueve
Se vacían las calles
Se clausuran las moradas
En las calles solitarias por el encierro colectivo
La voluntad, vacilante y confusa, tropieza y cae
Preguntas, cual goteras, salpican y muerden
¿Dónde se escampa del letargo que nos empapa
Mientras crece la injusticia
Y la muerte es consigna de las naciones?
¿Dónde hallar consuelo
Cuando la patria nos duele
Y la indiferencia se esparce como un aguacero
Sobre una masa indiferente?
¿Cómo romper la inercia que nos ahoga
Mientras el gobierno insulta y destruye al pueblo?
¿Cómo sacudirse la desesperanza
Cuando todo lo que creímos verdadero se viene abajo
Y un sentimiento de impotencia, como río crecido
Se nos desborda
Cuando salir huyendo nos pasa por la mente
Porque nos sentimos indefensos frente a tanta inclemencia?
¿Cómo combatir la oscuridad que sobre todos se cierne?
Llueve
El tiempo se requeda entre las gotas
El sopor, sorprendido, se agita
La libertad, estoica, observa desde su trinchera.
POEM OF FREEDOM
The staccato spatter on the windows
Invades my sleep
It’s raining
Souls walk in a hurry
As if they were fleeing,
avoiding the bad weather.
Entrapped by the downpour
They hasten their pace.
They examine the road, evade risks
It’s raining
The streets are emptied,
The dwellings are closed in the lonely streets
by a collective shutdown.
The force of will, hesitant and confused, stumbles and falls
Questions, like leaks, splash and bite:
Where is the escape from the lethargy that soaks us
As injustice grows
And death is the slogan of the nations?
Where to find comfort
When the country is in pain
And indifference spreads like a downpour
On an indifferent mass?
How to break the inertia that chokes us
While the government insults and destroys the people?
How to shake off hopelessness
When everything we believed to be true tumbles
And a feeling of impotence, like a cresting river,
Overflows us?
While we are fleeing, it courses through our minds
Why do we feel defenseless in the face of such a storm?
How to fight the darkness that hovers over all?
It’s raining
Time stands still between the drops
Lassitude, surprised, shakes itself awake
Freedom, stoic, observes from the trenches.
*Two Puerto Rican women political prisoners
(translation by Michael Novick)
Sandra Santana is the president of the PEN Club de Puerto Rico Internacional. She is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico with a BA and MA. She supports Pueblo Unido, opposing the sale and privatization of public services in Puerto Rico. She is a writer, trade unionist and accountant. Change Links obtained the poem in a mailing from Pro-Libertad supporting a rally for freedom for Puerto Rican political prisoners. We unfortunately neglected at the time to get contact information for the author. However, she recently discovered her poem and our translation and wrote to us. She said “Saludos.
Me entero por casualidad que mi “Poema de la libertad” fue traducido al inglés en este espacio en internet hace 4 años. Ha sido una sorpresa que hubiera sido aún más grata si me hubieran contactado antes. De hecho, me gustaría saludar al traductor para agradecer su tiempo y gentileza al escoger mi poema para traducirlo. Para futuras ocasiones estoy a la orden. Ya tienen mi correo electrónico. Muchas gracias por su atención. Quedo atenta a su respuesta.” Greetings.
I found out by chance that my “Freedom Poem” was translated into English on this internet space 4 years ago. It has been a surprise that would have been even more pleasant if they had contacted me before. In fact, I would like to salute the translator to thank him for his time and kindness in choosing my poem for translation. For future occasions I am at your disposal. You now have my email. Thank you very much for your attention. I remain attentive to your answer.
Our apologies to the author, Sandra Santana, for not having made the effort to contact her and obtain approval and permission for the publication and the translation.
