For Bob Marley
And Jah Moon
And Jah Sun
And the Rain
And Jah Love
And his Women
And Jah Africa
And Jah Rainbow
And his Diamonds
And Lions
The Sycamores of Jah
Jah Earth
And the Israelites
And the Stars
And Jah Purity
And Jah Books
And All the Tribes of Jah.
A las diosas del mar (1999)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
Showing posts with label Miguel James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miguel James. Show all posts
5.16.2012
5.15.2012
Victoria / Miguel James
Victoria
I who never work and never want to work
who always look at everyone as equals
who was born with star
who having arrived somewhere want to set up my tent there
who am received ahead of time and praised by the most sagacious
who drunkenly walk the streets
who have laughed at so many things on earth
who am the son of the Eternal Father
who could care less about the masters of belles lettres
who fall upright
who have kept on chatting with everyone
who am innocent
who through mountains, avenues and seas guide the rudder of my ships
who dance Limbo
who always find someone to sustain me
who know the pretenders
who never stop moving
who hear voices in the Pub (I know it’s Chiqui pretending to be Isa
or Isa pretending to be Chiqui)
who dwell in India
who return all loves a hundredfold
who traverse the entire city
who let no one sweep me away
who have personality
who sing all day
who have been admitted to the warrior initiations
who do everything for my people
who am Spear-Tongue-Light of the Nation
who escape from the asylums
who reject no one for being beautiful
who got married, had a son and go to Africa to drown in sun
who recognize facts
who know my history
who am sharp and sharper than hunger
who am delirious in the plazas
who cry whenever I feel like it
who receive everything on time
who rest, go into combat and rest again
who await the return of Ras Tafari
who feel then exist
who have beautiful light
who have lived ten years in the same ghetto
who know I am chosen
who let others strangle themselves with their ties
who found my soul
who am a great-grandson of Du, know my back and am in ecstasy before my image in mirrors, I warn you I don’t plan on being like this my whole life, mocking God, the Host and the Holy Virgin.
Mi novia Ítala come flores (1988)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
I who never work and never want to work
who always look at everyone as equals
who was born with star
who having arrived somewhere want to set up my tent there
who am received ahead of time and praised by the most sagacious
who drunkenly walk the streets
who have laughed at so many things on earth
who am the son of the Eternal Father
who could care less about the masters of belles lettres
who fall upright
who have kept on chatting with everyone
who am innocent
who through mountains, avenues and seas guide the rudder of my ships
who dance Limbo
who always find someone to sustain me
who know the pretenders
who never stop moving
who hear voices in the Pub (I know it’s Chiqui pretending to be Isa
or Isa pretending to be Chiqui)
who dwell in India
who return all loves a hundredfold
who traverse the entire city
who let no one sweep me away
who have personality
who sing all day
who have been admitted to the warrior initiations
who do everything for my people
who am Spear-Tongue-Light of the Nation
who escape from the asylums
who reject no one for being beautiful
who got married, had a son and go to Africa to drown in sun
who recognize facts
who know my history
who am sharp and sharper than hunger
who am delirious in the plazas
who cry whenever I feel like it
who receive everything on time
who rest, go into combat and rest again
who await the return of Ras Tafari
who feel then exist
who have beautiful light
who have lived ten years in the same ghetto
who know I am chosen
who let others strangle themselves with their ties
who found my soul
who am a great-grandson of Du, know my back and am in ecstasy before my image in mirrors, I warn you I don’t plan on being like this my whole life, mocking God, the Host and the Holy Virgin.
Mi novia Ítala come flores (1988)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
11.26.2011
Poética / Miguel James
Poetics
Let’s say
that Poetry
is writing
and speaking
words
and pretty things
The rest
Is Prose
And Tragedy.
A las diosas del mar (1999)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
Let’s say
that Poetry
is writing
and speaking
words
and pretty things
The rest
Is Prose
And Tragedy.
A las diosas del mar (1999)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
11.21.2011
Contra la policía / Miguel James
Against the Police
My entire Oeuvre is against the police
If I write a Love poem it’s against the police
And if I sing the nakedness of bodies I sing against the police
And if I make this Earth a metaphor I make a metaphor against the police
If I speak wildly in my poems I speak against the police
And if I manage to create a poem it’s against the police
I haven’t written a single word, a verse, a stanza that isn’t against the police
All my prose is against the police
My entire Oeuvre
Including this poem
My whole Oeuvre
Is against the police.
Kentakes, poemas para la reina y otras obras maestras (2003)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
My entire Oeuvre is against the police
If I write a Love poem it’s against the police
And if I sing the nakedness of bodies I sing against the police
And if I make this Earth a metaphor I make a metaphor against the police
If I speak wildly in my poems I speak against the police
And if I manage to create a poem it’s against the police
I haven’t written a single word, a verse, a stanza that isn’t against the police
All my prose is against the police
My entire Oeuvre
Including this poem
My whole Oeuvre
Is against the police.
Kentakes, poemas para la reina y otras obras maestras (2003)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
2.26.2010
Mi novia Ítala come flores / Miguel James
My Girlfriend Ítala Eats Flowers
My girlfriend appeared trembling in a bookstore
She showed me lonely street papers and slashed whores
She gave me lovely stones and seashells
An old engraving of untied horses
My girlfriend was on her way from the sun and looked like a gypsy
She told strange stories about twin souls
My girlfriend had a blue dress
She fell in love with me and my sandals
My girlfriend would read Boris Vian
She took a shower bleeding and gave me a body that smelled like nothing
I fell in love with my girlfriend
I braided my hair and took her to the movies
My girlfriend had an ugly blonde child
We would inhabit the city of fog or beyond the seas
My girlfriend became my girlfriend
My girlfriend pashira and ficus colony of herbs graft of flower-eating doves
I loved my girlfriend
My broke girlfriend sold earrings in the markets
She would bring me mandarins when I was in solitary confinement
She would undress in front of bored old men
I was my girlfriend
She adored Fabio and had a balcony to jump from
And it’s just that my sad girlfriend looked like a desolate Maga
My girlfriend was a star
I would have died without my girlfriend
One day my girlfriend said we were looking like open wounds under the sky
That she’d take up the lab books again
That she’d stop sleeping at the foot of the bridge
I didn’t pay attention to my girlfriend
I let her mix Pelusa rock and biology texts
Víctor’s punctual visits and kitchen habits
Johnny’s accurate punches
And it’s just that my girlfriend didn’t wanna eat flowers any more
So then I thought about giving her what she deserves
I’d take her to the mountain top
I’d bathe her in the trail’s creek
Then I’d bombard her with bougainvillea petals from above
I’d spray her with French perfumes
And knowing she was in ecstasy I’d cover her with baby poo
So she wouldn’t stop being my girlfriend
So she wouldn’t get sick of eating flowers
And it’s just that sometimes I don’t feel like being my girlfriend’s boyfriend
Sometimes I don’t feel like being anyone’s boyfriend
But yesterday I saw my girlfriend
She had ripped shoes and she gave me a glass pearl
We looked at a strange dress that cost as much as two hundred cigarette boxes
We talked about banquet fruits with bread and jelly
Because you really start to get sick of eating flowers
But I told my girlfriend that we’d always eat flowers
And I understood my girlfriend
And my girlfriend understood me
But sometimes I worry about my girlfriend
Because my furious girlfriend is capable of hoisting the boy and hitting him like a piñata
She’d shoot her mom on a holiday
She’d blow up the lab with sodium
Because my girlfriend is a beast
She’s a chill she’s a star
And I love my girlfriend
And I know she’ll appear on the avenue singing
She’ll scream absurdities only I understand
She’ll put a knife to my belly button
She’ll say: “Man, take off your pants”
Because my girlfriend’s my girlfriend
Because I know my girlfriend
My eternal girlfriend my girlfriend Ítala
My crazy girlfriend
Ganja plant
Sun
And spring.
Mi novia Ítala come flores (1988)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
My girlfriend appeared trembling in a bookstore
She showed me lonely street papers and slashed whores
She gave me lovely stones and seashells
An old engraving of untied horses
My girlfriend was on her way from the sun and looked like a gypsy
She told strange stories about twin souls
My girlfriend had a blue dress
She fell in love with me and my sandals
My girlfriend would read Boris Vian
She took a shower bleeding and gave me a body that smelled like nothing
I fell in love with my girlfriend
I braided my hair and took her to the movies
My girlfriend had an ugly blonde child
We would inhabit the city of fog or beyond the seas
My girlfriend became my girlfriend
My girlfriend pashira and ficus colony of herbs graft of flower-eating doves
I loved my girlfriend
My broke girlfriend sold earrings in the markets
She would bring me mandarins when I was in solitary confinement
She would undress in front of bored old men
I was my girlfriend
She adored Fabio and had a balcony to jump from
And it’s just that my sad girlfriend looked like a desolate Maga
My girlfriend was a star
I would have died without my girlfriend
One day my girlfriend said we were looking like open wounds under the sky
That she’d take up the lab books again
That she’d stop sleeping at the foot of the bridge
I didn’t pay attention to my girlfriend
I let her mix Pelusa rock and biology texts
Víctor’s punctual visits and kitchen habits
Johnny’s accurate punches
And it’s just that my girlfriend didn’t wanna eat flowers any more
So then I thought about giving her what she deserves
I’d take her to the mountain top
I’d bathe her in the trail’s creek
Then I’d bombard her with bougainvillea petals from above
I’d spray her with French perfumes
And knowing she was in ecstasy I’d cover her with baby poo
So she wouldn’t stop being my girlfriend
So she wouldn’t get sick of eating flowers
And it’s just that sometimes I don’t feel like being my girlfriend’s boyfriend
Sometimes I don’t feel like being anyone’s boyfriend
But yesterday I saw my girlfriend
She had ripped shoes and she gave me a glass pearl
We looked at a strange dress that cost as much as two hundred cigarette boxes
We talked about banquet fruits with bread and jelly
Because you really start to get sick of eating flowers
But I told my girlfriend that we’d always eat flowers
And I understood my girlfriend
And my girlfriend understood me
But sometimes I worry about my girlfriend
Because my furious girlfriend is capable of hoisting the boy and hitting him like a piñata
She’d shoot her mom on a holiday
She’d blow up the lab with sodium
Because my girlfriend is a beast
She’s a chill she’s a star
And I love my girlfriend
And I know she’ll appear on the avenue singing
She’ll scream absurdities only I understand
She’ll put a knife to my belly button
She’ll say: “Man, take off your pants”
Because my girlfriend’s my girlfriend
Because I know my girlfriend
My eternal girlfriend my girlfriend Ítala
My crazy girlfriend
Ganja plant
Sun
And spring.
Mi novia Ítala come flores (1988)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
2.12.2010
Como Mérida con Blanca / Miguel James
Like Mérida with Blanca
Sometimes I think
A Gardener should be a Garden
And the world like Mérida with Blanca
Because if it isn’t like Mérida with Blanca
There’s no point in
The Gardener
Or the Garden.
A las diosas del mar (1999)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
Sometimes I think
A Gardener should be a Garden
And the world like Mérida with Blanca
Because if it isn’t like Mérida with Blanca
There’s no point in
The Gardener
Or the Garden.
A las diosas del mar (1999)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo, 2007 }
10.16.2008
Oración Navajo
(Para El Segundo Día Del Cántico De La Noche)
Miguel James
Desde la casa del este.
Desde la casa del Pico Pelado.
Desde la casa hecha de espejismo,
Desde la historia hecha de espejismo,
Desde el umbral del arcoiris,
El camino del cual es el arcoris,
El arcoiris salió afuera conmigo.
El arcoiris se levantó conmigo.
Por el medio de amplias praderas,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
A donde mi casa es visible,
El arcoriris regresó conmigo.
Al techo de mi casa,
El arcoriris regresó conmigo.
A la entrada de mi casa,
El arcoriris regresó conmigo.
Hasta justo dentro de mi casa,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
A mi fogata,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
Hasta el centro de mi casa,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
A la antesala de mi casa con el alba,
El Dios Que Habla se sienta conmigo.
El Dios De La Casa se sienta conmigo.
Muchacho Polen se sienta conmigo.
Muchacha Saltamontes se sienta conmigo.
En belleza Estsanatlehi, mi madre, por ella retorno.
Bellamente mi fuego me es devuelto.
Bellamente mis posesiones me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis materiales livianos me son devueltos.
Bellamente mis materiales duros me son devueltos.
Bellamente mis caballos son devueltos.
Bellamente mis ovejas me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis hombres viejos me son devueltos.
bellamente mis mujeres viejas me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis hombres jóvenes me son devueltos.
Bellamente mis mujeres me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis niños me son devueltos.
Bellamente mi esposa me es devuelta.
Bellamente mis jefes me son devueltos.
Bellamente mi tierra me es devuelta.
Bellamente mis praderas me son devueltas.
Bellamente mi casa me es devuelta.
El Dios Que Habla se sienta conmigo.
El Dios De La Casa se sienta conmigo.
Muchacho Polen se sienta conmigo.
Muchacha Saltamontes se sienta conmigo.
Bellamente maíz blanco me es devuelto.
Bellamente maíz amarillo me es devuelto.
Bellamente maíz azul me es devuelto.
Bellamente maíz de todas clases me es devuelto.
En belleza andaré.
Todo el largo día he de andar.
A través de las estaciones que vuelven andaré.
Sobre la senda bañada de polen andaré.
Con saltamontes en torno a mis pies andaré.
Con rocío en torno a mis pies andaré.
Con belleza delante de mí, andaré.
Con belleza detrás de mí, andaré.
Con belleza encima de mí, andaré.
Con belleza debajo de mí, andaré.
Con belleza en torno a mí, andaré.
En la vejez vagando en una senda de belleza, animadamente,
andaré.
En la vejez vagando en una senda de belleza, viviendo de
nuevo, andaré.
En belleza ha terminado.
En belleza ha terminado.
Versión del inglés realizada por el autor.
(Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007)
Miguel James
Desde la casa del este.
Desde la casa del Pico Pelado.
Desde la casa hecha de espejismo,
Desde la historia hecha de espejismo,
Desde el umbral del arcoiris,
El camino del cual es el arcoris,
El arcoiris salió afuera conmigo.
El arcoiris se levantó conmigo.
Por el medio de amplias praderas,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
A donde mi casa es visible,
El arcoriris regresó conmigo.
Al techo de mi casa,
El arcoriris regresó conmigo.
A la entrada de mi casa,
El arcoriris regresó conmigo.
Hasta justo dentro de mi casa,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
A mi fogata,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
Hasta el centro de mi casa,
El arcoiris regresó conmigo.
A la antesala de mi casa con el alba,
El Dios Que Habla se sienta conmigo.
El Dios De La Casa se sienta conmigo.
Muchacho Polen se sienta conmigo.
Muchacha Saltamontes se sienta conmigo.
En belleza Estsanatlehi, mi madre, por ella retorno.
Bellamente mi fuego me es devuelto.
Bellamente mis posesiones me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis materiales livianos me son devueltos.
Bellamente mis materiales duros me son devueltos.
Bellamente mis caballos son devueltos.
Bellamente mis ovejas me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis hombres viejos me son devueltos.
bellamente mis mujeres viejas me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis hombres jóvenes me son devueltos.
Bellamente mis mujeres me son devueltas.
Bellamente mis niños me son devueltos.
Bellamente mi esposa me es devuelta.
Bellamente mis jefes me son devueltos.
Bellamente mi tierra me es devuelta.
Bellamente mis praderas me son devueltas.
Bellamente mi casa me es devuelta.
El Dios Que Habla se sienta conmigo.
El Dios De La Casa se sienta conmigo.
Muchacho Polen se sienta conmigo.
Muchacha Saltamontes se sienta conmigo.
Bellamente maíz blanco me es devuelto.
Bellamente maíz amarillo me es devuelto.
Bellamente maíz azul me es devuelto.
Bellamente maíz de todas clases me es devuelto.
En belleza andaré.
Todo el largo día he de andar.
A través de las estaciones que vuelven andaré.
Sobre la senda bañada de polen andaré.
Con saltamontes en torno a mis pies andaré.
Con rocío en torno a mis pies andaré.
Con belleza delante de mí, andaré.
Con belleza detrás de mí, andaré.
Con belleza encima de mí, andaré.
Con belleza debajo de mí, andaré.
Con belleza en torno a mí, andaré.
En la vejez vagando en una senda de belleza, animadamente,
andaré.
En la vejez vagando en una senda de belleza, viviendo de
nuevo, andaré.
En belleza ha terminado.
En belleza ha terminado.
Versión del inglés realizada por el autor.
(Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007)
9.20.2008
Nidia / Miguel James
Nidia
Nidia
I’ve stopped under the bridge
I haven’t been able to continue
The rain’s falling
And I imagine your arrival
You say:
“Guapo, this umbrella’s for both of us
Follow me to where the world ends”
So I answer:
“Nidia, I’ve got sixty bolívares in my pocket
We can drink beer, buy cigarettes
Later on doesn’t matter”
And off we go
I tell you, “Let the rain soak our hair
I love you just the same without an umbrella”
And you give me two of your kisses
So I’m not sure if you want me to kiss you deeply
Or if you’ll take off running
Under May showers
Nidia
Our newborn springtime
Mine and yours
Because you should know
Dad has gone off
And I don’t wanna stay home with mom
I wanna be less alone
I wanna be with you
And the nights are really cold
And all the other girls I know are really mean
And you’re so hippie
And the outline of your tits entertains me
All this rushed through my head under the bridge
While it stopped raining and you didn’t arrive
So I’ve crossed the University
I’ve taken pen and paper from Alis and Roberto
And I’ve gone to a bar
To write this down for you
Thinking I’ll read it to you tonight over the phone.
Nena, quiero ser tu hombre y otras confesiones (1996)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007 }
Nidia
I’ve stopped under the bridge
I haven’t been able to continue
The rain’s falling
And I imagine your arrival
You say:
“Guapo, this umbrella’s for both of us
Follow me to where the world ends”
So I answer:
“Nidia, I’ve got sixty bolívares in my pocket
We can drink beer, buy cigarettes
Later on doesn’t matter”
And off we go
I tell you, “Let the rain soak our hair
I love you just the same without an umbrella”
And you give me two of your kisses
So I’m not sure if you want me to kiss you deeply
Or if you’ll take off running
Under May showers
Nidia
Our newborn springtime
Mine and yours
Because you should know
Dad has gone off
And I don’t wanna stay home with mom
I wanna be less alone
I wanna be with you
And the nights are really cold
And all the other girls I know are really mean
And you’re so hippie
And the outline of your tits entertains me
All this rushed through my head under the bridge
While it stopped raining and you didn’t arrive
So I’ve crossed the University
I’ve taken pen and paper from Alis and Roberto
And I’ve gone to a bar
To write this down for you
Thinking I’ll read it to you tonight over the phone.
Nena, quiero ser tu hombre y otras confesiones (1996)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007 }
9.04.2008
A Rimbaud / Miguel James
RIMBAUD’S MOM WOULD TELL HIM “GO ON AND TAKE OUT THE TRASH ARTHUR” WHILE HE THOUGHT ABOUT POEMS SO HE WROTE A SEASON IN HELL AND THEN WENT OFF WITH VERLAINE TO ILLUMINATE HIMSELF TO THEN BECOME A HIPPIE A YUPPIE AND TRAFFIC IN ABYSSINIA WITH MENELIK AND FINALLY ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN MINUS ONE LEG.
Kentakes, poemas para la reina y otras obras maestras (2003)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007 }
Kentakes, poemas para la reina y otras obras maestras (2003)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007 }
8.03.2008
Poema para Argenis Rodríguez / Miguel James
Poem for Argenis Rodríguez
Nothing happens in this country
Except the president who talks and talks and talks
On television
I don't listen to him
Occasionally a young Poet commits suicide
The press make no mention of it
Nor do statistics
Nothing goes on in this country.
Kentakes, poemas para la reina y otras obras maestras (2003)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007 }
Nothing happens in this country
Except the president who talks and talks and talks
On television
I don't listen to him
Occasionally a young Poet commits suicide
The press make no mention of it
Nor do statistics
Nothing goes on in this country.
Kentakes, poemas para la reina y otras obras maestras (2003)
{ Miguel James, Mi novia Ítala come flores y otras novias, Mérida: Ediciones Mucuglifo/CENAL, 2007 }
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