Water of Jellyfish
by Coral Bracho
Water of jellyfish,
milky, sinuous water,
water of slippery borders; glassy thickness - Deliquescence
amid delightful outlines. Water - sumptuous water
of regression, of languidness
in calm densities. Water,
water silky and lead-like in opaqueness, in heaviness - Mercurial; suspended water, slow water. The seaweed
of the sparkling - In the udders of pleasure. The seaweed, the breath/vapour/breeze of its peak/crest;
- above the arching silence, above the isthmuses
of basalt; the seaweed, the habit of its touch/caress,
its sliding/flowing gently. Light [i.e. illumination] water, fish water; the gentle breeze, the agate,
its luminous overflowing; tracing fire the elk
fleeting - amid the ceiba, amid the shoal; pulsing
flame;
lynx-like/sharp/intelligent water, bream water (sudden jasper). A fire/brilliance
among jellyish.
- Open border/coastal strip, with lips; gentle breeze of slippery borders,
its rocking [i.e. to sleep] smoothness, its efflorescence as it takes shelter/nests; amphibious,
slippery - Water, water silky
in magnetization; at the ready. Suspended/unsupported water, slow water - the
lascivious illumination
in the oily wading across,
upon the capsizing/overturning of basalt. - Crawling of the opal amid the light,
amid the internal flame. - Water
of jellyfish.
soft water [i.e. not salt], lustrous;
water without trace; dense,
mercurial
its steely whiteness, its dilution in raisings of graphite,
in glimpses of the spined loach; furtive, smooth. - Living water
its belly on its forehead, upturned bronze sun wrapping up
- water of ‘blenda' [mineral, sulphur of zinc], bursting. Water of jellyfish, tactile water
blending/merging with itself
in the unctuous/oily/sticky indigo, in its shuddering honeycomb. Asbestos water, sea lettuce
the catfish in the stuffing [i.e. upholstery, springiness]
- sucking/sipping/tasting; in the nutricious humour [i.e. liquid of animal body], in its delicate nectar; the golden
reservoir, the limbo [bewildering place], reveals it. Light [i.e. weight] water, breeze inside the amber
- the anointed luminary, slender/graceful; the tiger, its high tide
beneath the glazed shadow. Boundary water, water eel licking its profile,
its nocturnal migration
- Between the matrices of silk; amid the sage. - Water
amid hake. Heavy/pregnant water (the calm, warm
pleasure; its ability to iridesce) - Water
its edges
- Its mutating smoothness, its enchanting of itself
amid the nubile/marriageable
rhythmical/cadenced. Water,
silky water of regression, of languidness
in calm densities. Water, water; its caress
- water of otter, water of fish. Water
of jellyfish,
milky water, sinuous; Water,
The literal translation of this poem was made by Tom Boll
The final translated version of the poem is by Katherine Pierpoint
© Poetry Translation Centre 2004-2010
Karuna says:
Never have I read something so sensual. Each word makes each of my senses dance-and at the same time! So I'm not sure if I'm tasting,seeing,hearing or feeling. My sense are at their confused best but what a delightful state to be in.
katie says:
wow cool poem its long! .......... bravo!
Sallie Lupton Jennings says:
This is a poet of immense visual and tactile imagination. We never hear, smell or taste the water, but what a feast for our eyes and skin sense of water in all its shifting shapes , moods and colors, its settings and its inhabitants.
Brava!