Lemon Tree (Monday Poem)

 by Jennifer Clement

translated by Consuelo de Aerenlund 

 

 

If you climb a lemon tree

feel the bark

under your knees and feet,

smell the white flowers,

rub the leaves

in your hands.

Remember,

the tree is older than you are

and you might find stories

in its branches.

 

 

 Si te subes a un arbol de limon

siente la corteza

con tus rodillas y pies,

huele sus flores blancas,

talla las hojas

entre tus manos.

Recuerda,

el arbol es mayor que tu

y tal vez encuentres cuentos

entre sus ramas. 

 

 

from The Tree is Older Than You Are:

A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories

from Mexico With Paintings by Mexican Artists

Selected by Naomi Shihab Nye

Simon & Schuster, 1998  

  

The Apple (Monday Poem)

by Jose Gorostiza

translated by Joan Darby Norris and Judith Infante

 

 

Yes, the apple tastes of light,

cold light.

That's it, the apple!

What a lively fruit

so much like morning!

 

 

 

La Manzana

 

Sabe a liz, a luz fria,

si, la manzana.

Que amanecida fruta

tan de manzana!

 

 

 

from The Tree is Older Than You Are:

A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories

from Mexico With Paintings by Mexican Artists

Selected by Naomi Shihab Nye

Simon & Schuster, 1998  

 

The Cedar Chest (Monday Poem)

by Rosario Castellanos 

translated by Judith Infante

 

 

The ax that felled

forever the fragrance

and the tree taken

with its torso severed.

 

Now here you are, under a roof,

in the corner of a bedroom

and guests take you for granted

and, you seem to accept it

    and to keep still.

 

Don't sell away your memory

to sad routines and to time.

Do not forget the woods

or the wind or the birds.

 

 

from The Tree is Older Than You Are:

A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories

from Mexico With Paintings by Mexican Artists

Selected by Naomi Shihab Nye

Simon & Schuster, 1998