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).



Thursday, March 17, 2011

Final oblivion (Final olvido)

Mum asked me to go to mass today as she organises one back at home to commemorate Dad’s passing on the 17th of August last year.  I couldn’t make it to church today.  Instead I chose to blog a poem from his book Urgent poetry (Poesía de urgencia), which shows once again his way of saying good bye to his loved ones, way in advance and when he was full of life.

Final oblivion (Final olvido)

My poems will be
In your hands one day.

You will find yourself in them.
Time will have erased
their reason, their meaning.

I know the extent and the depth
of your sad look
and I do not mention tears, my love,
because it is no longer fashionable  to talk in poems
about trivial things.

I stop beside this poem.
From its edge I want to see, to feel
the last twilight
finding transitory refuge in your eyes.
at 8:43 PM

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