Ese oscuro animal del sueño / Antonia Palacios


A rough translation of one section from Antonia Palacios (Caracas, 1915-2001), Ese oscuro animal del sueño, Monte Avila Editores, 1991.




That Dark Sleep Animal



Here where I've stopped I listen to strange sounds, the flight of invisible birds, and I think of that firmament only my mind retains. I am still, waiting for a diaphanous surrender, an ignored promise. The sky is tinged an impossible color and the wind roughly shakes the crossroad trees. No one dares pass through these worldly shores, behind white mountains. Maybe the fear of death, a quick death with no time for pain. May the night and its mystical torment, its darkened mantle, burst. Would a morning star shine amid this long unending tempest.