Lección de las piedras

by Edwin Madrid

Pan duro como piedra,

piedras que convirtió Dios en pan;

panes elaborados con el sudor de la frente,

frente de piedra,

pan de sudor.

Pan pan y vino vino.

Cuerpo y sangre del hambre del mundo.

Piedra hambre.

Pan remordido por el hombre,

hombre de piedra,

mujer pan,

piedra comiéndose pan.

Dios duro como piedra,

la piedra del mundo.

Lesson of Rocks

by Edwin Madrid

Bread hard as a rock,

rocks that God turned into bread;

loaves prepared with the sweat of the brow,

a brow of rock,

a bread of sweat.

Bread is bread, and wine, wine.

Body and blood of hunger in the world.

A rock of hunger.

Bread eaten away by man,

man made of rock,

bread woman,

rock eating bread.

God hard as a rock,

the rock of the world.

translated from Spanish by Julia Velasco

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These poems are part of the collection Pavo muerto para el amor, by Ecuadorian poet Edwin Madrid. The collection was published in Spanish in Argentina by Alción Editora. Madrid has published several other collections of poetry, including La búsqueda incesante (Mexico, 2006), Latitud cero° (Colombia, 2005) and Mordiendo el frío (Colección Visor de Poesía, Spain, 2004). He has also received a number of awards, such as the Casa de América de Poesía Americana award, (Spain, 2004) and the national poetry award Escritores Ecuatorianos de los 90 (Quito, 1992).

Julia Velasco was born in Spain where she graduated with a degree in Translation and Interpreting, and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of South Carolina. She has translated the works of Spanish-speaking poets such as Armando Romero, Eduardo Espina, and Mario Bojorquez. Her own fiction has appeared in The Delmarva Review.

Circumference

Poetry in Translation

Lección de las piedras

Lesson of Rocks