Gatekeeper | Showcase

A poem by Donna Aza Weir-Soley, from the new bilingual anthology The Sea Needs No Ornament

  • The Sea Needs No Ornament

Published in July 2020, The Sea Needs No Ornament/El mar no necesita ornamento is a groundbreaking bilingual anthology of contemporary Caribbean women poets, edited and translated by Loretta Collins Klobah and Maria Grau Perejoan. Poems by thirty-three writers of the Anglophone and Hispanophone Caribbean are included — a survey of two generations of vital, various voices from across the archipelago

GATEKEEPER

Meet me where the four roads cross
where all paths open, close at your whim
Meet me at the crossing
where little feet dance the fates of kings
and small axes fell giant oaks and cypresses
Meet me inbetween the cycles of seasons
dancing in time to the beat of hearts and heads 

Spirit knows the road
before and after
beyond what can be seen,
so meet me at the crossroads
where blood and fire lick the knife’s blade
and it doesn’t matter who eats first 
as long as everyone gets fed
and no bread’s wasted,
while somewhere there’s a hungry-belly child. 

Meet me in the clearing at twilight
when night eclipses day
and fates give way to faith
Meet me twixt tomorrow,
yesterday and today

EL GUARDIÁN DE LAS ENCRUCIJADAS

Encontrémonos donde se entrecruzan los cuatro caminos
donde todas las sendas se abren, se cierran a tu antojo
Encontrémonos en el cruce
donde pies menudos bailan la suerte de los reyes 
y hachas pequeñas hacen caer enormes robles y cipreses
Encontrémonos en medio de los ciclos de las estaciones
bailando al compás del latido de los corazones y las cabezas 

El espíritu conoce el camino
antes y después
más allá de lo que puede verse,
así que encontrémonos en la encrucijada
donde la sangre y el fuego lamben la hoja del cuchillo
y no importa quien come primero 
siempre que todo el mundo se alimente
y no se desperdicie pan,
mientras en algún lado hay un niño con la barriga hambrienta.

Encontrémonos en el claro cuando llegue el ocaso,
cuando la noche eclipse el día,
el destino ceda a la fe
Encontrémonos entre mañana, 
ayer y hoy.

The Sea Needs No Ornament/El mar no necesita ornamento is published by Peepal Tree Press. For more information, visit peepaltreepress.com

Funding provided by the 11th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme Direct Support Grants Programme.
The views expressed on this website are those of the the authors and do not reflect those of the Direct Support Grants Programme.

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