Jump into Ireland

Jose Marti, I dream awake (Cuba)

Day and night
I always dream with open eyes
And on top of the foaming waves
Of the wide turbulent sea,
And on the rolling
Desert sands,
And merrily riding on the gentle neck
Of a mighty lion,
Monarch of my heart,
I always see a floating child
Who is calling me! 

Eliseo Diego, Only This (Cuba)

Only This

.

Poetry is nothing more

Than conversation in the shadows

Cast by an ancient stove

When all have gone,

And beyond the door

Murmur the impenetrable woods.

.

A poem is only a few words

One has loved,

And whose order time has changed,

So that now

Only a suggestion,

An inexpressible hope,

Remains.

.

Poetry is nothing more

Than happiness, a conversation

In the shadows

After everything else has gone

And there is only silence.

Luis Suardiaz, The Seed (Cuba)

The Seed

.

They told us,

“This is beauty.”

So that we

Might not see her for ourselves

Or create her for ourselves.

.

So now it is hard to say,

“This is beauty.”

And we refrain,

Since we would make a fatal mistake.