El Bosque de las Lineas, by Ulalume González de León, Translated by Terry Ehret, John Johnson, and Nancy J. Morales

El Bosque de las Lineas

Para José Luis Cuevas

Saltas
por la ventana de tu mano
con tus vivos y tus muertos

al bosque de las líneas:
las que separan las que juntan
las de ser joven o viejo

Quieres desenredarlas:
unas para tus vivos
otras para tus muertos

Pero desobedecen como vida:
es el jardín de las rosas
lo que deslumbra bajo el pudridero

Pero desobedecen como muerte:
y al amor loco se le nota
el polvo debajo de los besos

Y por líneas tejidos destejidos
cesan y recomienzan
tus vivos y tus muertos

se buscan unos en los otros
intercambian sus máscaras se calzan
innumerables cuerpos de sus cuerpos

hacia una semejanza—ya has tendido
una red de mirada, pincel, lápiz y tinta:
tiempo tatuado y pacto melancólico

en que se transparentan mutuamente
tus muertos y tus vivos
y tú pierdes el cuerpo

**

The Forest of Lines

for José Luis Cuevas

You jump
through the window of your hand
with your living and your dead

to the forest of lines:
those that separate, those that join,
those of young or old

You want to untangle them:
some for your living 
others for your dead

But like life, they disobey:
the garden of roses
dazzles under the rot pile

But like death, they disobey:
and crazy love can taste
the dust under the kisses 

Through lines woven and unwoven
they stop and start again,
your living and your dead, 

they look for themselves in each other
swapping masks, slipping into
their bodies’ innumerable bodies

till they all look the same—you have already set 
a snare of gazes, brush, pencil, and ink:
the tattoo of time and its sad bargain

in which they see through each other,
your dead and your living,
and you lose your body

Ulalume González de León

Translated by Terry Ehret, John Johnson, and Nancy J. Morales

This poem first appeared in Plagios / Plagiarisms (2020) by Ulalume González de León, translated by Terry Ehret, John Johnson, and Nancy J. Morales.

​Poet, essayist, writer and translator, Ulalume González de León (1928 – 2009) believed that “Everything has already been said,” and thus each literary creation is a rewriting, reshuffling, and reconstructing of one great work. For this reason, she chose the title Plagios (Plagiarisms) for her book of collected poems. Her poetry and other writing earned her many awards, including the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the Flower of Laura Poetry Prize, and the Alfonso X Prize. Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz called her “the best Mexicana poet since Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.” 


Nancy J. Morales, a first-generation American of Puerto Rican parents, earned her bachelor's degree from Rutgers College, a master's in teaching English as a Second Language from Adelphi University, and a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University. She has taught at Dominican University, College of Marin, Sonoma State University, and other schools, from elementary to graduate levels. Currently she is a board member for the Northern California Chapter of the Fulbright Alumni Association, and teaches Spanish to private clients. 
 
John Johnson’s poetry has appeared in many print and online journals, including Boxcar Poetry Review, Clade Song, Triggerfish Critical Review, and Web Conjunctions. He is a long-time student of the Spanish language, and has studied letter-press printing with Iota Press of Sebastopol, producing chapbooks and bilingual broadsides. 
 
Terry Ehret, one of the founders of Sixteen Rivers Press, has published four collections of poetry, most recently Night Sky Journey from Kelly’s Cove Press. Her literary awards include the National Poetry Series, the California Book Award, the Pablo Neruda Poetry Prize, a nomination for the Northern California Book Reviewer’s Award, and five Pushcart Prize nominations. From 2004–2006, she served as the poet laureate of Sonoma County where she lives and teaches writing.  ​