Since my first appearance in Blackmail Press (issue 28) I have presented poetry recitals in Venice, Madrid and Colombia and my film poems have been shown in the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, Berlin, and Liberated Words, Bristol, among others. I have published the poetry book Sr Citizen (Amargord, 2011) and I run an online poetry project in Spanish called Palabras Prestadas in which poets send in poems that include five words donated by an invited guest. Together with the Colombian writer Lilián Pallares, I am planning a trip to New Zealand based on the Spanish concept of Ida y Vuelta, or Return Journeys, involving the sharing of culture and creativity.
Snap
Between jeans and a white shirt
a pegged lemon sock.
Sunny curve that smiles in the breeze.
Its green companion drops a tear.
Virtual gesture that looks real
in the eyes of the waiting lover.
The afternoon cracks like an ice cube
sunk in a glass of water.
In Silence
Dream Fragment
I met a big Maori woman
with heart to match
and she looked at me
with her round face
and saw I was sad within
and she gave me a big hug,
as big as her heart.
We separated and looked in each other’s eyes.
I felt my eyes moist
and her eye was glazed in tears
which formed a pool that
grew and grew
until it became a waterfall
cascading over her cheek.
He Kongakonga Moemoeā
Tutaki au i a tētahi wahine Māori
He wahine nunui
He nui hoki tona ngakau
Tirotiro mai ia ki ahau
He kanohi nunui
Kitea ai tōku pouritanga
He nunui tōna awhiawhi
Pera anō i tōna ngakau
Wehewehe ana māua
Tirotiro mai, tirotiro atu
Waiwai ana nga kamo
Waiwai ana hoki ana kamo
Rere ana nga roimata
Me he wairere
Taheke mai ana i ona paparinga.
Maori translation of Dream Fragment by Ko Te Haeata and the Reverend
Barry Olsen
