Octavio Paz's "Between What I See and What I Say"

[Red Terror]

This is a sweet poem by a Mexican poet, translated into English for your inspection.

By Octavio Paz (Nobel Prize Winner)


Between what I see and what I say,

between what I say and what I keep silent,

between what I keep silent and what I dream,

between what I dream and what I forget: poetry.


It slips between yes and no,


Says what I keep silent,


Keeps silent what I say,


Dreams what I forget.


It is not speech: it is an act.


It is an act of speech.


Poetry speaks and listens:






It is real, And as soon as I say


It is real, it vanishes.


Is it then more real?

Tangible idea, intangible word:


Poetry comes and goes


Between what is and what is not.


It weaves and unweaves reflections.


Poetry scatters eyes on a page, scatters words on our eyes.

Eyes speak, words look, looks think.


To hear thoughts, see what we say,



Touch the body of an idea.

Eyes close, the words open.

[Danik 2016]

A beautiful poem and a faithful translation.
For those who read Spanish here is the link to the original:
http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/poe...ecir_hacer.htm

[Danik 2016]

That looks like spam, Patty Green!