My City - Medardo Ángel Silva

        Strong waters and oil paintings of

        the city of Santiago de Guayaquil

My city is surrounded by hills

above the hills an arched moon shines

on patios dogs howl sadly at

the wandering spirit of a yellow goddess.

Its streets have their provincial reminiscences

childlike joy of its wooden houses,

familiar sweetness of its simple mornings

the perpetual lie of its fleeting spring.

Oh, city of Santiago, my tiny city

That shelters my melancholy, my joy

And the universal lyric I carry in my chest.

Image of my soul so often vanquished that

Springs forth more beautiful, each time soaring

With a purer rhythm and a new ideal.

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Medardo Ángel Silva (1898 - 1919) Ecuador

Translated by Vincent Lee

Source: Vincent Lee's blog Se va con algo mío…