Category: poema

(A bilingual poem—4 decades in LA)

Solo, al principio, a la mitad y al final
Alone, at all stages in my life
Prestando siempre atención a todo lo irrelevante
Ignoring always the most essential
Persiguiendo siempre a la siempre elusiva felicidad
Tomando caminos equivocados, desviados, perdidos y escondidos
Finding friends anywhere, everywhere, hundreds of them
Different colors, levels, religions, good and bad, smart and not
Sueños olvidados, abandonados, desdeñados e ignorados
Sacrificados e injustificadamente eliminados de mi mente
Procrastinados por la ceguera de la eterna juventud
Friends, real, false, provisional, a few remain, some disappeared, most are gone
Others are forgotten, some I miss, some sincerely
Alone remains, alone is loyal. What did I find, while looking for nothing?
Mi rompecabezas está ahora incompleto,
Por buscar no sé qué, perdí no sé qué tanto
Triste tristeza, infeliz felicidad, en los escombros solo encuentro mi soledad
But the only precious thing I’ve ever had was my mind,
Uneducated, unspoiled, uncontaminated, uncorrupted
Always loyal and faithful
My only true friend,
My beautiful mind.
Beautiful to me
Anyway

Edmundo Barraza

Visalia, CA.

Mar-2012