translated by Rebecca Seiferle

In Lima...In Lima, it's raining
foul water from a mortifying
sorrow. It's raining
through the leak of your love.

Don't pretend that you're sleeping,
remember your troubadour;
because now I understand...I'm grasping
the human equation of your love.

It thunders on the mystic dulcimer,
the gem stormy and treacherous,
the witchery of your "yes."

Moreover, it falls, the downpour
falls on the coffin of my path,
where I gnaw my bones for you...


From The Black Heralds by César Vallejo. Translation © Rebecca Seiferle, 2002.

Lluvia En Lima....En Lima está lloviendo el agua sucia de un dolor qué mortífero. Está lloviendo de la gotera de tu amor. No te hagas la que está durmiendo, recuerda de tu trovador; que yo ya comprendo.... comprendo la humana ecuación de tu amor. Truena en la mística dulzaina la gema tempestuosa y zaina, la brujería de tu "sí." Mas, cae, cae el aguacero al ataúd de mi sendero, donde me ahueso para ti.....

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