​I rip out all the flowers from my body - Aleyda Quevedo Rojas

The poem Arranco Todas Las Flores de Mí Cuerpo by the Ecuadorian poet Aleyda Quevedo Rojas.

​Arranco todas las flores de mi corpo

​I rip out all the flowers from my body

(Arranco todas las flores de mi cuerpo) para ofrecértelas, Señor. Allá voy, mas desnuda sin las diminutas flores del torso, más desvestida que nunca sin las dalias que crecían en mi espalda. Voy saltando las piedras ciegas de la desdicha y el viento me ayuda a alcanzar la arena. Señor de las Angustias, todopoderoso mío, me despojo incluso de la flor pasionaria y de la corona de heliconias que adorna mi pubis. Desnudísima, para entregarme a ti, sin los lirios de la nuca o los girasoles de las nalgas, pulcra, tal vez insondable isla de misterios Y no más rosas, ni margaritas, ni violetas encandiladas en mis senos. Limpia estoy, vuelta promesa. Brillante y sola para entregarme a ti sin las astromelias del sexo, sin la flor azul del corazón.

(I rip out all the flowers from my body) to offer them to you, Lord. There I go, way more naked without the tiny flowers of my torso, more undressed than ever without the dahlias that grew on my back. I'm jumping over the precious stones of misfortune and the wind helps me reach the sand. Lord of Sorrows, my almighty, I even strip myself of the passion flower and the crown of heliconias that adorns my pubes. Deeply naked, to give myself to you without the lilies of the neck or the sunflowers of the butt, pure, perhaps the unfathomable island of mysteries. And no more roses, nor daisies, nor violets dazzled in my breasts. I am clean, promise returned. Bright and alone to give myself to you without the alstroemerias of sex, without the blue flower of the heart.

from: Antología de la poesía ecuatoriana: línea imaginaria, 2015

Note: The English version available in this post is a loose translation from the original text.

---

About The Poet

Aleyda Quevedo Rojas (1972) is a poet born in Quito, Ecuador. A relevant writer of contemporary Spanish-American poetry, she has published numerous books and had her poems translated into French, English, and Portuguese. She also works as a journalist and cultural manager.