Landscape of the Soul: poems in Spanish and English

President John F. Kennedy, well-known as a patron of the arts, famously said, “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses,” adding that art humbles the arrogant by reminding them of their limitations. (For more on JFK's views on art, see HuffPost https://tinyurl.com/57d52yxw).

It has also been said that poetry heals: in times of division, strife and conflict, and through grief, loss and pain, poetry brings solace.

And we could say, too, that poetry celebrates beauty: through images, words, language and sound.

This is the hope of Cafh Foundation with the new anthology of poetry by Hipólito Orlando Sánchez: it will bring solace and celebrate beauty, through poetic language published in both English and Spanish.

Take, for example, this short poem, This Day:

This Day

This day has the eternal,

This moment the eternal has.

Emptied of everything

The now finds an open space for me

And spreads through all my pores and cells,

And through all my mind otherwise all busy

With something else.

May I in this very moment

Enter the eternal by simply paying attention.

You - Are - Here,

And the color and the voices from afar.

Este Día

Este día tiene

La eternidad,

Y este momento la eternidad tiene.

Vacío yo de todas las cosas

El ahora encuentra mi espacio abierto

Y se derrama

Por todos mis poros y células

Y por toda mi mente

Siempre ocupada

Con otra cosa.

Que en este momento pueda yo

Entrar la eternidad

Simplemente

Prestando atención

Tú - estás aquí

Y el color y las voces

Que desde lejos llegan.

And another:

I Have a Hundred Songs

I have a hundred songs

And many stories

I haven’t thought so far

I carry them in my soul being born

As the days pass.

My vows are proof of it

Birds’ songs in the backyard show it.

Dreaming I go to sleep

Sleeping I wake up

With stories never thought

And a thousand songs to sing.

Tengo Cien Canciones

Tengo cien canciones

Y muchas historias

Que no he pensado todavía

Las llevo en el alma naciendo

Al paso de los días

Las muestra una ofrenda

Las revive el trino de los pájaros en el patio

Me voy a dormir soñando

Y me despierto en el sueño.

Con historias impensadas y mil cantos por cantar.

Be sure to stay tuned as we near the approach of the publication date.

Meanwhile be sure to check out our other reviews, for more bilingual poetry samples:

https://vocal.media/poets/aqui-estamos-here-we-are

https://vocal.media/poets/poems-from-the-hudson-valley