After a While
Aug. 4th, 2011 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emanixI have come across this poem online a couple of times, attributed to a Veronica Shoffstall. However it appears that it's also a translation of an original work in Spanish, possibly by Jorge Luis Borges.
Either way, it is beautiful, and expresses a lot of how I feel about relationships, and about polyamory, and deserves to be known.
After a While
After a while you learn
The subtle difference between
Holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn
That kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman*
Not the grief of a child*
And you learn
To build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is
Too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way
Of falling down in mid flight
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers
And you learn
That you really can endure
That you are really strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
And with every day, you learn.
Aprendiendo
Después de un tiempo,
uno aprende la sutil diferencia
entre sostener una mano
y encadenar un alma,
y uno aprende que el amor
no significa acostarse
y una compañía no significa seguridad
y uno empieza a aprender.
Que los besos no son contratos y los regalos no son promesas
y uno empieza a aceptar sus derrotas
con la cabeza alta y los ojos abiertos
y uno aprende a construir todos sus caminos en el hoy,
porque el terreno de mañana
es demasiado inseguro para planes...
y los futuros tienen una forma de caerse en la mitad.
Y después de un tiempo
uno aprende que si es demasiado,
hasta el calorcito del sol quema.
Así que uno planta su propio jardín
y decora su propia alma, en lugar
de esperar a que alguien le traiga flores.
Y uno aprende que realmente puede aguantar,
que uno realmente es fuerte,
que uno realmente vale, y uno aprende y aprende...
y con cada día uno aprende..
.
*I notice these two lines aren't present in the Spanish version. They are awfully pretty, though, and fit well into the model of the poem, so I've left them where I found them. Being a language nerd, I also fixed the last line of the translation: the version I found said 'with every goodbye you learn', whereas the spanish just says 'with every day', which I think is far more optimistic!NB: I'm not keen on infringing copyright, so I'll happily take this post down or correct the attribution if I'm contacted by someone who can demonstrate ownership, but in this case it seems the ownership is fuzzy, and the likely original author is no longer alive to benefit from his work. There appears to be a longer version in Spanish here: http://elprincipito.blogia.com/2005/101102-jorge-luis-borges-aprendiendo.php
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-04 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-04 01:48 pm (UTC)On the other hand, as an artist, I'm very conscious of copyright issues, and I fully support both an artist's right to be asserted as the true author of their work, and to profit from it - because if artists (including but not limited to musicians, poets, writers, photographers, plumbers, I.T. support technicians...) can't profit from their own work, they will starve, or be crushed underneath the daily drudgery that is the day-job, and then there will be no artists. So I wanted to flag up that I am mindful of this, and remind other folks that they ought to be, too. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-04 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-04 09:50 pm (UTC)Also, good poem. I think it does a pretty good job of explaining my perspective on poly too. I think people who come to poly from a previously-monogamous marriage and have never had to date polyamorously as a single person, or who have been partnered for their entire adult lives, have a much higher likelihood of not seeing relationships or themselves in this way. And I think that motivates all the couple-privilege rules we see around here, as some people seem to be terrified that they might ultimately be on their own.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-05 12:57 am (UTC)That's a beautiful poem - makes for great reading. :)
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Date: 2011-08-13 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-29 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-29 07:00 pm (UTC)Thanks for commenting.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-22 08:55 pm (UTC)I saw this poem, an English version--a different English version, and attributed to someone else--on the wall of the hostel where I was living in Costa Rica, back in early 1996. I was so struck by it I copied it down into my journal, then later that term translated it into Spanish and turned it in as a writing assignment (not as my own work, but as an original translation).
I never had any idea the original was Spanish (nor did my Spanish teacher). I'm amused by the serendipity, and pleased to see that my own Spanish version was not too far off the mark :-)
no subject
Date: 2013-04-23 10:49 am (UTC)Comes the Dawn
Date: 2015-07-17 10:05 pm (UTC)Truth to the Readers
Comes the Dawn
Date: 2015-07-17 10:10 pm (UTC)Truth to the Readers