Usually I post things about education or immigration.

Sometimes I post things on poetry.

So I thought, why not?

This is about my father, and it is about his poetry, his beautiful poetry, which I want to translate completely, one day. So this is the beginning…

Today is my papi’s birthday. He would have been 94 years young today, & he is still with me everyday, in everything I do. Looking at some old books, then, I decided to translate the prologue he wrote to his small book of poetry, of course, dedicated A MI ESPOSA/TO MY WIFE…

I think this is the small birthday present I can give you, Papi. Little by little I will try to translate your book, and maybe, I will try to republish it, somehow, someday… Happy happy birthday, where ever you are!

Poemas del destierro

Aquí quiero presentar mis breves y pequeños poemas, POEMAS DEL DESTIERRO, aunque no todos fueron escritos en él.

Los primeros, Poemas viejos, son un tributo al tiempo en que fueron escritos. Frutos de la primera juventud, casi de la niñez. Los segundos, Poemas del destierro, comprenden algún aspecto o expresan algún sentimiento de tantos cubanos que hoy por tierras extranjeras comparten esta experiencia. Los últimos, Poemas bíblicos, son el producto de la lectura de los textos sagrados. La Biblia es fuente de poesía. Sus temas son numerosísimos: amor, alegría, tristeza, envidia, dolor, traición, misericordia… Donde quiera he encontrado uno de esos pasajes cargados de poesía, he tratado de expresarlo con una poesía directa, sin el ropaje de una preceptiva literaria rígida.

Nuestro José Martí dijo alguna vez que no debíamos morir sin tener un hijo, sin plantar un árbol y sin escribir un libro. Dios me ha favorecido con numerosa prole, que significa para mi una poesía íntima; he plantado algunos rosales en el patio de casa que cada vez al romper la primavera florecen fragantes y llenos de color. Solo un libro me faltaba. Aquí presento este muy pequeño libro de poesías.

Quiera Dios que algunos ojos piadosos pasen sobre sus versos, y al leerlos, pueda el lector percibir algún tenue perfume. Y así no quede aprisionado en las hojas sin abrir…

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Poems of exile

With this I would like to present my few small poems, my Poems of Exile, although all were not written during this time.

The first set, Old Poems, is a tribute to the years in which the poems were written. Fruits of my early youth, almost from childhood. The second group, Poems of Exile, understands certain aspects or expresses the emotions of many Cubans who today share the experience of living in foreign lands. The last, Biblical Poems, are the product of my interpretation of sacred texts. The Bible is a source of poetry. Its subjects are numerous: love, joy, sadness, envy, sorrow, betrayal, mercy… Wherever I found one of these passages brimming with poetry, I tried to capture it with direct poetic language, without the guise of a literary and rigid dogma.

Our José Martí once said that we should not die without having a child, without planting a tree, or without writing a book. God has favored me with many children: that has become — for me — an intimate poetry. I have planted a few rose bushes in my garden, and every season in the breaking spring they bloom, fragrant and colorful. Only a book was I missing.

Thus here I present this very small tome of poetry.

May God grant that a few pious eyes read over my verses, and when they linger there, readers can perceive a faint perfume. And thus, the words will not stay trapped in these pages, unopened…