Tino Villanueva's "Mas la Voz Que el Tiempo"
APRIL 21, 2007 Listen to this Story
- Tino Villanueva
- Enlarge This Image
Web Resources
Weekend America continues to spotlight National Poetry Month with poet Tino Villanueva reads his poem "Mas la Voz Que el Tiempo," translated into English by Lisa Horowitz.
Voice Over Time
I wanted to write so badly it hurt.
All afternoon tied to a desk,
to a page flat out on a table--
I was getting nowhere,
just fending off failure and the darkening light.
I want to say hours passed,
then days: and how to grasp the essence that came shimmering in air
and the obscuring shade?
How exactly to say it, to get it laid out on paper with my pencil or pen?
Slow, so slow, this process of clear recollection, of sifting back
through the shadows of memory-- there, too, is life.
Oh memory, my memory,
give me back what is mine and guide me in the very telling of
everything that stayed behind --may my voice win over time.
[Translation of "Mas la voz que el tiempo" by Tino Villanueva
Copyright © 1999 by Lisa Horowitz, from Primera causa / First Cause
Merrick, NY: Cross-Cultural Communications, 1999]
-
- Music Bridge:
- And then The Solstice Disappeared
- Artist: The North Sea
- CD: Exquisite Idols (Type)
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From Hammond, IN, 04/22/2008
Tino Villanueva was the guest poet at PUC/IUN first cultural program Todos Somos Poetas. I would like to contact him to help us celebrate the 20th Anniversary of todos Somos Poetas on April 25, 2009. Cordially, Dr. Carmen Torres-Robles, Director of TSP & Head Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, Purdue University Calumet
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Weekend America reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.