Ulalume González de León
INTERSTITIAL
Entre alguna palabra y la que sigue
mientras los juntos hablan
se abre una grieta
espacio no de pérdidas
sino de encuentros
Sus voces
se asomen entonces a un sitio
que no está ni en decir ni en callar
a una elocuencia oblicua
Prueban
un revés de las voces diferente al silencio
donde habla el además de las palabras
Se acuestan
una dentro de otra
—voz adentro
Se enlazan como cuerpos
para una traducción de oscuridades
Y mientras ellos dicen
otra cosa
mientras pronuncian
palabras que transcurren y se extinguen
quemando un tiempo que las quema
y dan la razón a la muerte
nace una duración
una desobediencia
y dan la razón a la vida
Trans. by Nancy J. Morales, John Johnson,
and Terry Ehret
INTERSTITIAL
Between one word and the next
when the two together speak
a crack opens
a space not of losses
but of encounters
Their voices then
peek out from a place
that is neither in speaking nor in silence—
an oblique eloquence
They try
a reversal of voices different from silence
where the furthermore of words speaks
They lie down
one inside the other
—voice within
They link together like bodies
translating what lies hidden in shadow
And meanwhile they say
something else
meanwhile they pronounce
words passing by and dying out
blazing a tempo that burns them
and they side with death
a lifetime is born
a defiance
and they side with life
Ulalume González de León was born in 1928 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the daughter of two poets, Roberto Ibañez and Sara de Ibañez. She studied literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Mexico. While living in Mexico in 1948, Ulalume became a naturalized Mexican citizen. She married painter and architect Teodoro González de León, and together they had three children. She published essays, stories, poems, and worked with Mexican poet and Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz as an editor of two literary journals, Plural and Vuelta. She also translated the work of H.D., Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Hughes, Lewis Carroll, and e.e.cummings.
In the 1970s in Latin America, González de León was part of a generation of women writers challenging the traditional identities of women, marriage, and relationships. Her poetry earned her many awards, including the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the Flower of Laura Poetry Prize, and the Alfonso X Prize. Ulalume González de León died in 2009 of respiratory failure and complications of Alzheimer’s.
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 six Pushcart Prize nominations. From 2004–2006, she served as the poet laureate of Sonoma County where she lives and teaches writing.