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, July 7, 2011

The Tower of Saint Louis (Torre de San Luis)


From my Dad’s book Elementary motherland (Patria elemental).

The Tower of Saint Louis (Torre de San Luis)

It is a small sharp-pointed tower
that the neighbours do not look at anymore.

The neighbourhood brightens up its poverty and
the calm days with fugacious fireworks.

Then, the gothic style of the tower
lightens up in the night and like a needle it penetrates
the crystal-clear sky.

In the temple the prayers gather
and are simplified to ascend like one
single ladder through the apex
that flies toward God.
at 4:45 PM

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