"the girl with no body, naked in the tattoo parlor window"

[paperleaves]

how does it work, these pseudolimbs and acrylicwaves
pulsating through my view, the looks and lives and
limps
white light backmasking audiotapes, calendars and watercolor paints
postcards and letters the latter in ink
the former in blood.
analog tempo, axillary
axillary
excrement, the sweat
the sweat, the sweat of the ancients
vases and valor and bracelets
I am goldenbrown and baking in the lamps
of my regrets
oil and herbs, lavender and chamomile, calmate,
mi amor, los ojos de las mujeres no pueden matar
o robar
tus palabras
de la boca
o el papel
but they are looking, always watching
fevers and curtains, we were
we were
we were lovers once
coathangers and rouge, mascara in tubes
drying drying drying
until we have frozen in black
the things that make us beautiful
por favor, ayudame,
porque puedo hacer nada
sin mi corazon...

[Bakiryu]

so beautiful, the Spanish adds an extra touch and I love the ending, so unexpected! ♥!

[paperleaves]

Thank you very much, Bakiryu! :)

[PrinceMyshkin]

Yes, the Spanish (though I wish I understood it) adds something invaluable to what is already so rich and fervent, as if no one language were sufficient to express the depth of feeling - indeed, by implication, at no language would do it, that one reaches to get beyond language!

Oh but you have a voice all of your own, Ms PL!

[goldenrod]

Welcome to this place!

Enjoyed working out where I was in this poem. My Spanish is rusty, to say the least! But my attempt at translating the last line ended up like this:

"please, help me, because I can do nothing without my love".

Now that was reaching way back to a Frenchman called De la Field, who taught Spanish!

goldenrod.

[qimissung]

I like the fervent tone, the unusual and juxtaposed images, the intermixture of languages-it all added up to something rich and strange...

[paperleaves]

Thank you for the kind words, PrinceMyshkin, goldenrod, and qimissung! Very nice translation, goldenrod, I'm going to post the translation just so it is fair to those who don't know Spanish:

"I am goldenbrown and baking in the lamps
of my regrets
oil and herbs, lavender and chamomile, be calm,
my love, the eyes of the mothers can never murder
or steal
your words
from the mouth
or the paper"
"please, help me,
because I can do nothing
without my heart..."

Warmest regards,
Paperleaves

[Virgil]

Oh definitely keep it in Spanish. I think it really adds a nice touch, expands the vision of the poem. I could quibble with a few places (not sure all the repetitions really do anything) but on balance I feel the intensity. I particularly liked this section:

white light backmasking audiotapes, calendars and watercolor paints
postcards and letters the latter in ink
the former in blood.

Oh I noticed your signature. Bukowski. :sick: Well, we disagree there. :D ;)

[mercy_mankind]

"I am goldenbrown and baking in the lamps
of my regrets
oil and herbs, lavender and chamomile, be calm,
my love, the eyes of the mothers can never murder
or steal
your words
from the mouth
or the paper"
"please, help me,
because I can do nothing
without my heart..."

Warmest regards,
Paperleaves

very nice poem:) and thank you for posting the translation.

[TheFifthElement]

Interesting poem paperleaves. Reading this aloud does it justice and, of course, I'd kill to have come up with a line like this:


I am goldenbrown and baking in the lamps
of my regrets

Like Virgil I wasn't overly sure about the repetition, I'm not sure whether it adds anything, and when read out it seems, I don't know, maybe a little self conscious. Or maybe that's just me.

I loved the Spanish (and thanks for the translation!) which added that sense of an expression of language, both on the page and through the medium of the tattoo, communication etched on the skin. Nicely done.