Bland de 120 böckerna på Rory Gilmore's lista fanns Julia de Burgos samlade dikter. Julia de Burgos hade jag inte hört talas om och jag har försökt att ta reda på lite mer om henne.
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Julia de Burgos föddes i Carolina, Puerto Rico år 1914 - äldst av 13 syskon- sex av syskonen dog av undernäring. Hon växte sedan upp vid Rio Grande de Loiza- och jag hämtar några rader ur hennes dikt med samma namn:
Rio Grande de Loiza!... My wellspring, my river
since the maternal petal lifted me to the world;
my pale desires came down in you from the craggy hills
to find new furrows;
and my childhood was all a poem in the river,
and a river in the poem of my first dreams.
since the maternal petal lifted me to the world;
my pale desires came down in you from the craggy hills
to find new furrows;
and my childhood was all a poem in the river,
and a river in the poem of my first dreams.
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Rio Grande de Loiza!... Blue. Brown. Red.
Blue mirror, fallen piece of blue sky;
naked white flesh that turns black
each time the night enters your bed;
red stripe of blood, when the rain falls
in torrents and the hills vomit their mud.
Man river, but man with the purity of river,
because you give your blue soul when you give your blue kiss.
Most sovereign river mine. Man river. The only man
who has kissed my soul upon kissing my body.
Rio Grande de Loiza!... Great river. Great flood of tears.
The greatest of all our island’s tears
save those greater that come from the eyes
of my soul for my enslaved people.
Blue mirror, fallen piece of blue sky;
naked white flesh that turns black
each time the night enters your bed;
red stripe of blood, when the rain falls
in torrents and the hills vomit their mud.
Man river, but man with the purity of river,
because you give your blue soul when you give your blue kiss.
Most sovereign river mine. Man river. The only man
who has kissed my soul upon kissing my body.
Rio Grande de Loiza!... Great river. Great flood of tears.
The greatest of all our island’s tears
save those greater that come from the eyes
of my soul for my enslaved people.
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Hennes dikter handlar ofta om exilens ensamhet och isolering, kvinnors utsatthet, kärlek och mänskliga rättigheter. Julia de Burgos var mycket aktiv politiskt. Hon dog utfattig i New York- år 1953. Då var hon bara 39 år gammal.
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Rio Grande de Loiza
Någon svensk översättning av hennes dikter har jag inte kunnat hitta men "Song of the Simple Truth" som är hennes samlade dikter i engelsk översättning går att få tag på bl a via Amazon.
