I translated the following poem for my Translation of Chilean and Spanish Poetry class. It is by Homero Aridjis, a poet and journalist who abides in Mexico. The process of translating is one frought with many challenges, a reality that is manifold for poetry. I am in debt to the professor for certain aspects of this translation. I accept, however, all responsibility for any shortcomings or failures.

I am enjoying translating poetry as it pushes me to connect more deeply with what I am reading, and it sparks my imagination for possibilities that I might pursue in my own writing. I can imagine that translation will be a regular part of my life, perhaps as a creative discipline to sharpen my own skills and expand my creative repertoire. Whatever the future may hold for me and translation, in the present I hope you enjoy this poem.

You enter the dark room
as on a bed of dreams

all say the name of the impalpable
all look and weigh
the unseen

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2006 at 3:23 am and is filed under Coyote Archive, Literature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.