Why do this?

My father, José Luis Villamizar Melo, passed away in my home town of Cúcuta, Colombia, in August last year. The law and economics were Dad's profession, but literature, history and academia his passion. He wrote and published several books, articles and book chapters. The thing is that so many people have missed out on his work, particularly on his beautiful poetry, which he wrote in Spanish prior to the world wide web. So I thought, what a better way to keep Dad's legacy alive than to bring his writing beyond his world and share it with mine. That is why I am translating over 250 of my Dad's poems to English and publishing them here, one a day, Monday to Friday during 2011 (Dad, a family man, always believed that you shouldn't work on weekends).



Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Summer heart (Corazón verano)

Today was another sunny day that teased us promising a balmy summer night and ended in a cool ‘autumn evening’ where al fresco diners were given blankets by the waitress to enjoy a glass of rosé and a meal with friends.  From my Dad’s book The celebrated afternoon (La tarde festejada).

Summer heart (Corazón verano)

I come from the darkness
with you. Clarity
hits our eyes.
Something points toward
a different and higher horizon,
like a dimension
that transfigures the noble
fraternal heart
and warms it up,
pure, like made out of wheat,
like bread
kneaded with loving hands…
Love will blossom
like a joyful Spring
that forgot the afflictions
of Summer.
at 11:17 PM

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