Ahora dejo mi balance / Francisco Pérez Perdomo

I Now Leave My Balance

Francisco they call me.
My soul has been forged
in the great vigils
and the dark days. And
I am from these places.
Likewise in these mountains
my ancestors
lived and died. I am
from here and this is my seal.
Now and from day to day I combat
my shadow. The enigmas
that presented themselves
at each instant
and ever to Oedipus,
torment me
constantly. I am not
immune to anything. I have
never emerged unscathed.
The infallible formulas
of love have rushed
to the precipice and torture me
without end. Blind harpies,
willing to immolate me,
become more and more enraged
with my life. In the distance
is heard, time and again,
the tolling of the dead.
In the neighboring cemetery,
lie my elders.
I never say a word.
And imagination
survives us with no need
to invent any fable.
I invent absolutely
nothing, much less
in this unfathomable void.
All the beings from these
districts know me
and call me Francisco.
I am from these hills
and belong to these sullen
mountains. I am from here
and in these very same places
I now leave my balance.




{ Francisco Pérez Perdomo, Eclipse, Caracas: Edición de autor, 2008 }