687 | Elca and Montgó | Francisco Brines | Spain

In memoriam, the Spanish poet Francisco Brines

Francisco Brines, receiving at his home Elca, Oliva
from the Spanish king and queen the Cervantes Prize, 12^th May 2021

Elca and Montgó *

       To Angelika Becker

The dark death of the orange trees

blinds my eyes;

orange and dry, rises the moon

behind a sea of lead.

In the distance, the mountain breathes blue air;
the sea wets it, in its slumber. And so the shadow falls,

for centuries, over the ache of its roughness.

The houses open their eyelids,

the hillside lights up, trembling,

the heart yearns for beings it does not know;

and other beings return to remembrance.

Invisible, an air of jasmine

penetrates my shirt, from my flesh it lifts

light sweat; and this blown dust

is lost in the night,

deaf gravedigger of my time.

It was the merciful day,

and to the worn-out earth, grateful,

I look lovingly,

for the gentleness with which I die today.

Francisco Brines, Spain (1932─2021)

Translation Germain Droogenbroodt – Stanley Barkan

* Elca, name of Brines house, Montgo, mountain range, seen from his house