Graciela Reyes
& Jackie White (translator)
Lightning Bugs
Bichitos de luz
Anochece y el parque es una isla temblorosa azul fragante
en medio de la ciudad
nunca hemos paseado juntos por un parque
buscaba bichitos de luz
lo real y lo más extraño hacen la poesía y la infancia
quería cazarlos
cazaba mariposas lecheras
escarabajos de oro bichitos de San Roque
grillos
los tenía un rato y los dejaba ir
el césped estaba mojado me lamía los tobillos
subía del estanque olor dulce a flores podridas
habían callado los pájaros
jirones de luna
árboles gigantescos
parejas besándose deseperadamente
me asustaban un poco pero comprendía la imprudencia
la belleza del deseo
noches de soledad
el ay en la boca era tarde debía volver a casa
los bichitos de luz se encienden y se apagan sobre lo verde
girando subiendo bajando son un cosmos plácido
tardé todos estos años en encontrarlos
una noche de verano es exactamente igual a todas las noches de verano
como un regalo tuyo las luciérnagas
vieras cómo flotan encendiéndose y apagándose
nunca hemos paseado juntos por un parque
Lightning Bugs
Night falls and the park is a trembling fragrant blue island
in the middle of the city
we’ve never walked through a park together
I used to look for lightning bugs
the real and the strangest things make up poetry and childhood
I loved chasing them
chasing creamy butterflies
golden little beetle bugs of San Roque
crickets
I’d keep them a while and let them go
the wet grass licking my ankles
the sweet smell of rotten flowers rising up from the pond
the birds becoming quiet
swaths of moon
gigantic trees
couples desperately kissing
used to scared me a little but I understood the indiscretion
the beauty of desire
nights of solitude
the ohmygod in my mouth it was late I had to get home
lightning bugs flash on and flicker off above the green
whirling up twirling down they’re a calm cosmos
it took me all these years to find them
one summer night is exactly like all summer nights
the fireflies, like the pleasure of you
I wish you could see them floating, flashing on, flickering off
we’ve never walked through a park together
Graciela Reyes was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her book Poemas, a bilingual edition of selected poems, translated by Ruth El Saffar, was published by the Consulate of Argentina in Chicago in 1991. Her other books of poetry include Reflexiones de una mujer sola and Poemas para andar por casa (Buenos Aires, 1982), and Que la quiero ver bailar (1989), which won both the Letras de Oro prize and the Premio Cuidad de Rota, and she also is a renowned scholar of linguistic theory. She retired from her position as Professor of Spanish (Linguistics) at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007.
Jackie K. White is the author of three chapbooks and a book of collaborative poems, The Under Hum, with Simone Muench. Jackie’s translations appear in the anthology, Between the Heart and the Land: Midwest Latina Writers and the journals ACM, Blackwater Review, Cagibi, Escape into Life, The Los Angeles Review, and Natural Bridge. She has served as an expert reviewer for the American Literary Translators’ Association (ALTA) of which she is a member.