claudiapena.com

I’m keeping you.

Little heart, my soul,
Parachute with umbrellas
Down to me,
Walls of color
That sing like mad,
Through kaleidoscopes,
Full of twinkling stars,
That fall like glitter from the sky.

Give me yellow flowers
Make me blush!
Always late when needed early,
Always early when needed late,
Into my waterfall–
Inside my playground you’ll be–
Forever young in life,
Forever old in knowledge.

Little heart, contender,
Tendrán almas?
Y los misioneros después de consultarse,
En concierto decidieron que si,
Y hubo alma,
En el salvaje noble,
En mi piel morena.
En mi corazón sin alas,

In Quechua you asked me,
How does your heart feel, my daughter?
How does your heart feel?
I say my heart feels sad and heavy,
It feels black and gray,
It goes blue and red,
It breaks like a dying leaf,
In a six month eclipse,
It recoils to the sting of soap,
On my burning skin,
It drags with pain and sorrow,
Deep waters that will not move.

After that, I took you out to sea to drown,
Then changed my mind,
Fed you to the dragon instead,
Then I took you from the creature’s belly,
And all the king’s horses,
And all the church’s sweet water,
Couldn’t wash the salt away from you,
Years later,
You still taste so bittersweet.

Little heart, my story,
Full of color and light,
Skip and sing,
Always laugh, always snort,
How far away did you explode?
With what passion did you amend?
Un viaje de cuna a ataúd,
Solo para tocar tu cara,
Solo para hablar tú nombre,
Solo para descubrir tu amor.

Please check out the writer’s website at www.sandracisneros.com