El adiós de Mark Strand

Ayer murió el poeta canadiense Mark Strand (Isla Príncipe Eduardo, 1934 – Nueva York, 2014), ganador del Premio Pulitzer de Poesía en 1999.

Mark Strand. Foto: Google

De sus obras, han sido editadas en castellano recientemente por Visor: Tormenta de uno (Blizzard of one, 1998), Hombre y Camello (Man and Camel, 2006) o Casi invisibles (Almost invisible, 2012). En octubre de 1968 publicó un poema titulado My Death, que dejo aquí en su versión original.

My Death

Sadness, of course, and confusion.
The relatives gathered at the graveside,
talking about the waste, and the weather mounting,
the rain moving in vague pillars offshore.

This is Prince Edward Island.
I came back to my birthplace to announce my death.
I said I would ride full gallop into the sea
and not look back. People were furious.

I told them about attempts I had made in the past,
how I starved in order to be the size of Lucille,
whom I loved, to inhabit the cold space
her body had taken. They were shocked.

I went on about the time
I dove in a perfect arc that filled
with the sunshine of farewell and I fell
head over shoulders into the river’s thigh.

And about the time
I stood naked in the snow, pointing a pistol
between my eyes, and how when I fired my head bloomed
into health. Soon I was alone.

Now I lie in the box
of my making while the weather
builds and the mourners shake their heads as if
to write or to die, I did not have to do either