La memoria

Posted by AP BAKER on APRIL 9, 2019

Happy Poetry Celebration Month! In honor of this month and my recent commitment to #authenticity, I have decided to start sharing some of my personal poetry.

Below, you will find one of my older poems, originally written in April 2016 for a Spanish lyrical poetry course I took in undergraduate. I was exceptionally intimidated by my talented professor, yet despite my many failures in her class, this poem somehow won her favor. This is honestly still one of my proudest (and most miraculous) moments of college. The poem is modeled after another, more famous poem (can’t remember which one though) so that’s why Medusa is referenced in the beginning, for those who’ve realized such an allusion is off-brand for me.

The poem is first written in Spanish (original) and then English (translation). With no further ado…:

LA MEMORIA

Este día tan lleno de medusas,

La memoria láctea, sinuosa,

Este día como un sueño

Un sueño de las posibilidades

Un sueño lleno de esperanza

Un sueño de amor

Este día

Empezó el paseo de la vida

Que podía caminar para siempre

Pero este día

Ahora es nebuloso

Encantado por lo que

Podía ha sido

Este día

Que era tan brillante

Tan lleno de esperanza

Ahora existe solamente

Como un sueño

Un sueño sinuoso

Que nunca puede alcanzar

THE MEMORY

This day so full of Medusas

The milky, winding memory

This dream-like day

A dream of possibility

A dream full of hope

A dream of love

This day

Began the journey of life

That I could have walked forever

But this day

Is cloudy now

Enchanted by

What could have been

This day

That was so bright

So full of hope

Now exists only

As a dream

A winding dream

That never will be