Half Light
Translated from the Spanish by Yvette Siegert
I have dreamed of escape, and dreamed
of your silken things all over the floor.
Along a pier sits a new mother,
all of fifteen, who nurses on the hour.
I have dreamed of escape, of ever-afters
Sighed from the ladder below a prow.
I have dreamed of a mother,
A few fresh sprigs of green,
And dawn like a hope chest lined with stars.
All along a pier. . .
All along a drowning throat.
Medialuz
He soñado una fuga. Y he soñado
tus encajes disperses en la alcoba.
A lo largo de un muelle, alguna madre;
y sus quince años dando el seno a una hora.
He soñado una fuga. Un “para siempre”
suspirado en la escala de una proa;
he soñado una madre;
unas frescas matitas de verdura,
y el ajuar constelado de una aurora.
A lo largo de un muelle. . .
Y a lo largo de un cuello que se ahoga!
From Los heraldos negros (Editorial Losada, S. A., 1918) by César Vallejo. Translated from the Spanish by Yvette Siegert. This poem is in the public domain.