Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Two Poems

2016; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 90; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7588/worllitetoda.90.5.0049

1945-8134

Feliciano Sánchez Chan, Translated by Jonathan Harrington,

Feliciano Sánchez Chan (b. 1960, Xaya,Yucatán) has twice won the Itzamná Prize for literature written in the Mayan language as well as the Domingo Dzul Poot Prize for narrative in Mayan. His book, Seven Dreams, was published in a bilingual edition of Mayan/Spanish by New Native Press (translated by Jonathan Harrington). He works with the Department of Popular Culture in the state ofYucatán. Jonathan Harrington is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’Workshop. His translation of Feliciano Sánchez Chan’s book Ukp’éel wayak’ (Seven Dreams) was published by New Native Press in 2014 (see WLT, Sept. 2014, 90). His own The Traffic of Our Lives won the Ledge Press Poetry Prize. He has lived in Yucatán, México, since 2002. Woman of Light You will never die out completely Woman of light Woman of power Woman with the sorrowful expression Woman of barefoot steps Woman of wavy hair Woman of the tight rebozo Woman of malnourished body Woman of decaying bones Woman of vacant look Woman of profound look Woman of silent weeping Woman of absent thoughts Woman of long journeys Woman of hands of masa Woman of the comal that gives birth to tortillas Woman who can make a delicacy of almost nothing Woman who is worn out with suffering Woman of pain buried in the heart Woman, daughter of corn Woman who bore her children in a hammock Woman of children scattered throughout the earth Woman of thousands of unshed tears Woman of corn Woman of food Woman of the sap of plants Wise woman Mayan-speaking Woman Spanish-speaking Woman Woman who speaks The language of the stars Woman who speaks the Language of nature Woman of great wisdom You will never die out My land is a reflection of your life. Translations from the Yucatec Mayan By Jonathan Harrington Translator’s note: A rebozo is a scarf, masa is tortilla dough made from corn flour, and a comal is a pan for frying tortillas. Your Memory And then, I ask myself, How is it possible that you hide your face in the shadow of other languages and refuse to understand the language of the wind? While you slept your father heard you talking with the Guardian Lords of Fertile Lands. Two Poems by Feliciano Sánchez Chan Visit the WLT website to hear the author read his poems in Yucatec Mayan. WORLDLIT.ORG 49 ...