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).



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Introduction to life (introducción a la vida)

From my Dad’s book Urgent poetry (Poesía de urgencia).  Quite a contrast from last night’s surrender to depression.

Introduction to life (introducción a la vida)

The Earth was made when the grain
watered by my father became seed
and one more man inhabited the Universe.
The event of a drop of water
joining the water from the sea.
Insignificant in the Cosmos.  Small thing.
Germination, florescence and life
rolling around time and the roads.
Time like a still impetuous horse.
Driver to an indefinable finishing line.
Ignored cruise, true top.
Labyrinth.  Same as the roads.
Under the light that vivifies the day.
Between the magic night and the star.
And in the serenity of twilights.

The Earth was made
when, its inhabitant, was my shock
and the desire to live in it inch by inch
over its surface or under it.
Nothing then spoiled my happiness.

At least that is what I say now.
at 5:00 PM

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