The Guali - Manuel María Madiedo

Far away are mountains, swelling
     Dark blue on a paler sky;
Whose faint quivering light is telling
     That the sun has risen high.
Straight above, he draws unto him
     All the splendor of the heaven;
Darting on the lonely pilgrim
     Rays like redhot lances driven.

We're all Rays from the Same Sun - Abdulla Shaig

Hey you, damnable mankind, tyrannizing down through the ages,
Vomiting blood, and only blood!
Did revenge conquer your heart?
Did the hot wind seer your soul?

Guns, Man and Death - Umaru Fofana

Gun, alone, not kills
Man, alone, kills
Man manufactures the gun
Man pulls the trigger on the gun

The Farmer in Wet Weather - Jónas Hallgrímsson

Goddess of drizzle,
driving your big
cartloads of mist
across my fields!

Earth and Dreamer - Alfonso Guillén Zelaya

Here I am, oh Earth! Diligently
I open the furrow in your bosom;
my hand, moved, deposits the seed;
the hand of a dreamer sowing life.

To a New Morning - Jaromír Borecký

I know not what 'twas o'er me stole,
As if the ice were rent apart,
That for a longdrawn span of dole
In chains had fettered fast my heart.

Come to me softly - Xasan Ganey

Her:
You, the bloomed Qaydar tree,
drenched by a rain,
leaves a fragrant wind which shakes,
You, my qudhac flowers

Her Picture - Reesom Haile

I wrote to Photo Studio
In The Hague,

The Last Supper Cathedral of Cusco - Odi Gonzales

Blindly attributed
to the Chiaroscurists of San Blas
to the Anonymous One of Maras
to the Master of Taray 
                                    a little something
I have to say:
                        this painting
came from my own hands: I  alone
painted, prepared, set forth the Sacred Meal

                                                            Here
the cunning Indian painter – the Anonymous One of the Cathedral –
in a flight of ecstasy
added from his own stores
hearty stews and the fruits of his harvest:

            in place of
the traditional bread – flat and unleavened --
he set upon on the paschal table
roasted cuy, stuffed spicy peppers
as if the Upper Room were not in the Holy Land

                                                but more likely
in cozy tavern in Cusco, let’s say
                                    “La Chola.”

---

Odi Gonzales (born 1962) Peru
Translated by Lynn Levin
Source: Per Contra, Winter 2007-2008

• Maras - A small Andean town in what is now known as the Sacred Valley of Peru. Before the Spanish conquest, this region was the center of the Inca civilization.
• Taray - A village in the Sacred Valley of Peru.
• Cuy - Guinea pig, a staple of the Andean diet.
• Chola - An affectionate name for an indigenous Andean girl or woman.

 

Once Upon a Time I - Sukasah Syahdan

once upon a time I
saw a first flower undress
in slow motion naked colour