Frontera NorteSur December 1999/January 2000

UN LARGO EXPEDIENTE DE SILENCIOS

1
En mi ciudad
alto es el porcentaje de tristezas,
injusta la distribución de los dolores,
desesperados los silencios,
creciente el llanto,
clara la tendencia a la baja en materia de esperanza,
alta la cuota de rencores,
insoportable la burla
de quien ha protegido el crimen
y promete el silencio de épica firmeza.

En mi ciudad
Compartimos un envejecer
de árboles y calles,
un deambular por tardes
que nos llegan de noviembre.
Compartimos territorios de sueños
y la terrible página roja de los diarios.

Y la vida sigue el tiempo de las hojas,
todo importa menos cada instante:
la nube se deshace en el silencio,
el clima cumple su hora vespertina,
y el recuerdo pasa a ser olvido.

A Long Record of Silence

1
In my city
the percentage of sadness is high
the distribution of pain unjust
the silence desperate
the weeping swells;
to lose hope is typical
the quota of rancor has long been surpassed.
The taunts are deplorable
from those who have protected the crimes
and pledge the silence of epic austerity.

In my city
we share our aging
with trees and streets;
an afternoon stroll
delivers us to November.
We share the terrain of dreams
and the dreaded red page of diaries.

And life follws the season of leaves
everything matters except for each moment;
the cloud melts in silence
and the climate honors your twilight.
The memory fades to nothing.

Translation by Anne Marie Mackler with Lupita Minjares and Hector Carbajal

Jose Manuel García was born in Juárez, Chihuahua. He earned his masters from the University of Texas at El Paso and his Doctorate of Hispanic American Literature from the University of Kansas. He is currently a professor of Literature and Culture in the Department of Languages and Linguistics at New Mexico State University. He is author of various books including Textos de la Interzona, Carlos Monsiváis y Julio Cortázar: dos humoroclastas. He is the 1997 recipient of the binational prize "Fronteras-Ford Pellicen Frost."