Boricua on the Moon
by Juan Antonio Corretjer (1908-1985)
Translated by Dr. Lisa Sánchez González
[“Boricua” is a self-identifying term used by members of the Puerto Rican diaspora]
.
From the waves of the sea
that roll in kissing the shore,
a woman from Aguadilla
came to sing in New York.
But she arrived only to cry
a river of tears and died.
I was born from that river
like a beast born from rain.
And I live the long wait
to regain what I lost.
“Hacienda La Fortuna” painted by Francoisco Oller (Puerto Rican, 1833-1917) in 1885. Oller was associated with the impressionists in Europe and in 1868, he founded The Free Academy of Art of Puerto Rico. (Wikipedia) For more about this interesting artist, see en.wikipedia.org/...
Through a sky that grew
uglier the longer he flew
toward New York, came a
worker from Las Marías.
His hope, he always said,
was to some day return.
But first he made me,
then from overwork, he died;
before he could return home
he collapsed on a factory floor.
I am the son of tears
and the son of sweat.
It’s my grandfather’s love
I remember best; it was
the only joy I could see
through that pane of tears,
like a chimaera in a song
of the Puerto Rican dream.
And I am Puerto Rican;
I am broke, but not broken.
And that poseur who denies me?
Let him walk a straight and narrow
path, let him beware of a row
in the winding of an alley,
because someone once said:
they say the moon is one thing
though it be mountain and sea.
And as I defy the villain, I yell:
I would be Boricua even if
I were born on the moon!
.
Boricua en la Luna
Desde las ondas del mar
que son besos a su orilla,
“The Coaches of Ponce” by Miguel Pou Becerra (Puerto Rican, 1880-1968) Wikimedia commons. More here: en.wikipedia.org/...
una mujer de Aguadilla
vino a New York a cantar.
Pero no, solo a llorar
un largo llanto y morir.
De ese llanto yo nací
como la lluvia una fiera.
Y vivo en larga espera
de cobrar lo que perdí.
Por un cielo que se hacía
más feo mas más volaba
a Nueva York se acercaba
un peón de Las Marías.
Con la esperanza, decía,
de un largo día volver.
Pero antes me hizo nacer
Y de tanto trabajar
se quedo sin regresar:
reventó en un taller.
De una lagrima soy hijo
y soy hijo del sudor
y fue mi abuelo el amor
Único en mi regocijo
del recuerdo siempre fijo
en aquel cristal del llanto
como quimera en el canto
de un Puerto Rico de ensueño
y yo soy Puertorriqueño,
sin na, pero sin quebranto.
Y el “echón” que me desmienta
que se ande muy derecho
no sea en lo más estrecho
de un zaguán pague la afrenta.
Pues según alguien me cuenta:
dicen que la luna es una
sea del mar o sea montuna.
Y así le grito al villano:
yo sería borincano
aunque naciera en la luna.
_____________________
Juan Antonio Corretjer Montes (1908-1985). (In traditional Spanish names, the mother’s family name follows the father’s.)
Poem found at La Raspuesta. Corretjer did not himself migrate to New York; the specific characters in the poem are representative.
As well as a poet, Corretjer was a journalist and supporter of the Puerto Rican movement for national independence. “His poetry spans several decades and transcended any particular literary movement. The Puerto Rican Anthenium awarded him the honorary title of Puerto Rico National poet.” --Wikipedia
“Boricua en la Luna” became the basis for a popular song by Puerto Rican songwriter and singer Roy Brown.
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Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) did migrate from Puerto Rico to New York, from there to Cuba,
Julia Constanza Burgos Garcia (1914-1953). Borrowed from across106thstreet.com/...
Washington, D.C., and again New York.
Oldest daughter of a poor farming family, she received scholarships to attend high school and university in Puerto Rico. She became a teacher and journalist as well as a poet. She was a feminist, supporter of African and Afro-Carribbean writers and supporter of the Puerto Rican nationalist movement. Pablo Neruda was among those who praised her poetry. After her second marriage ended in divorce, however, she experienced bouts of illness and despair and passed away short of her 40th birthday. "In 1986, the Spanish Department of the University of Puerto Rico posthumously honored Julia de Burgos by granting her a doctorate in Human Arts and Letters.” --Wikipedia
.
.
“La Escuela de Maestro Rafael Cordero (Master Rafael Cordero’s School),” painted about 1890-92, by Francisco Oller (Puerto Rican, 1833-1917).
“Farewell In Welfare Island” (borrowed from here) is one of only two de Burgos composed in English, written during her next-to-last hospitalization, on that New York island. The title puns on “farewell” and “welfare."
.
Farewell in Welfare Island
by Julia de Burgos (1914-1953)
.
It has to be from here,
right this instance,
my cry into the world.
Life was somewhere forgotten
and sought refuge in depths of tears
and sorrows
over this vast empire of solitude and darkness.
Where is the voice of freedom,
freedom to laugh,
to move
without the heavy phantom of despair?
Where is the form of beauty
unshaken in its veil simple and pure?
Where is the warmth of heaven
pouring its dreams of love in broken spirits?
It has to be from here,
right this instance,
my cry into the world.
My cry that is no more mine,
but hers and his forever,
the comrades of my silence,
the phantoms of my grave.
It has to be from here,
forgotten but unshaken,
among comrades of silence
deep into Welfare Island
my farewell to the world.
.
“El Velorio (The Wake)” by Francoisco Oller (Puerto Rican, 1833-1917). For further interesting discussion of this painting, see puertoricoartreview.com/…
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