Carlos Vitale (Argentina/ Spain) has a degree in Spanish Literature and Italian Literature. His books of poetry include Unidad de lugar, Descortesía del suicida, Cuaderno de l'Escala / Quadern de l'Escala, Fuera de casa, El poeta más crítico y otros poetas italianos and Duermevela. He has also translated many Italian and Catalan poets into Spanish. He has participated en festivals, readings and poetry events in Argentina, Spain, Venezuela, Armenia, etc. In 2015 he won the “VI Premio José Luis Giménez-Frontín” prize for his contribution to bringing together diverse cultures. He lives in Barcelona.
English
Spanish
RETURN
But you finally come back.
Either you never left.
Or I never left.
The fact remains, you’re here
And I don’t know if I am.
CROCODILE LAUGHTER
Don’t be fooled.
The guy in the photo
with the big smile
was already unhappy
(you know that, of course you know that).
Consider him back there,
an extra, one of the crowd,
out of focus
even in a close-up.
Smiling
even though he’s dead.
If you ask him
to step forward
he has no shadow.
Convince yourself:
only a shadow
has no shadow.
DAY
You, standing nude in the shadows.
Your back is the arch of knowledge.
From the bed, I watch and wait.
You’ll turn around and tell me who I am.
No other light than my desire.
VUELTA
Pero al fin regresas.
O no te has ido.
O no me he ido.
El hecho es que estás.
Y yo no sé si estoy.
RISAS DE COCODRILO
No te engañes.
El de la foto
tan sonriente
ya era infeliz
(tú lo sabes,bien que lo sabes).
Contémplalo ahí detrás,
público o comparsa,
borroso
incluso en primer plano.
Sonríe
aunque esté muerto.
Si le pides
que se adelante
no da sombra.
Convéncete:
sólo la sombra
no da sombra.
JORNADA
Tú, de pie, desnuda en la penumbra.
Tu espalda es el arco del conocimiento.
Desde la cama, observo y espero.
Cuando te vuelvas me dirás quién soy.
Sin otra luz que mi deseo
Translated from Spanish by Kymm Coveney
Kymm Coveney was born in Boston, earned a BA in Modern English and Spanish Literature (Wheaton College, Massachusetts) in 1981, and has lived in Spain since the 1982 World Cup. Co-host of Barcelona’s multilingual poetry recital series, PoémameBCN, she is a freelance writer and translator, as well as habitual translation slam moderator for MET (Mediterranean Editors and Translators). Her poems have been published in The Blue Nib, Under the Radar and Prole. Flash fiction, poems and translations can be found online through betterlies.blogspot.com. Twitter @KymmInBarcelona.