Daily Verses 76
translated from the Spanish by Carina del Valle Schorske
Five thousand flame trees pass by
our houses; they march to the music of blood.
A fistful of earth echoes their burning cries.
They pass with their flags (our beloved flag).
They are the men who love Puerto Rico,
a great universe of pupils sharpened to a point.
No one reaches out, no one touches
the flame leaping for the sky’s mouth.
Go, friends, swirl of wolves, growl loud
with your riot of darts, flame trees! Strident
standard-bearers, sprung from the earth’s
womb, marching down the sonorous street
of the fatherland, remaking heaven
with the lymph between your veins.
Versos de cada día 76
Cinco mil flamboyanes pasan frente a las casas
marchan a música de sangre.
Un puñado de tierra se hace eco
de gritos incendiarios.
Pasan con sus banderas
(nuestra bandera amada).
Son los hombres que aman a Puerto Rico.
Son un gran universo de pupilas
revestidas de filo.
Nadie alargue las manos, nadie toque
la llama que se alza a la boca del cielo.
Id amigos, remolino de lobos;
gruñid alto algazara de dardos, flamboyanes!
Rigor abanderado, parto de nuestra tierra
que marcha por la calle sonora de la patria
fabricando su cielo con la linfa
que tiene entre las venas.
From Versos de cada día by Marigloria Palma (La Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1980). Used with the permission of the translator and the Estate of Marigloria Palma.