V

Over the bustle of the street
my ears fly.
Way above on wing a V of
calling geese.

A V pointing south.

It lifts my dreams to the sky
leaving below a cold racket
of cars and mouths,
metallic rasping;
falling shop blinds,
where hours are fetters.
Sounds of the neighborhood where I reside,
where attached to the keyboard I dive
in words and letters.

A B for bottle,
an L for love.
Or this V that has revived me.
A V that sings and dances,
a V that unleashes memories.

A V of birds,
air passengers,
that reveal the city
as the wind in the leaves
denudes the trees.





Charles Olsen (Translation from the original Spanish, 2011)
Presentation of this poem in Spanish during a recital in the SGAE, Madrid, with Flamenco dancer Selene Muñoz and pianist Pablo Rubén Maldonado can be seen here.