Loneliness Warning - Luz Machado - Venezuela

The poem Advertencia De La Soledad by Luz Machado.

Advertencia de la Soledad

Loneliness Warning

Niña, quédate sola. Cuida la casa y cuídate. Toma llaves, monedas y este par de respuestas. El tiempo llama afuera. Tú vas creciendo íngrima en grave adolescencia. No cierres puertas ni ventanas. Trabaja. No vendrán aires malos si el pensamiento es claro. Tu candor en él, íntegro, salva su hoja intacta, como la mariposa la miel entre la rosa. Tu labor pulirá toda la fuerza niña mientras tu paz ingenua hace más leve el tiempo que afuera esparce encima de las sienes ceniza mientras se desraízan los más hondos recuerdos. El de los 4 años, de abanico y pañuelos. El de los 10 impúberes de marginales gracias. El de los 15 ariscos y los 20 dispersos los 25 tristes y los 30 rebeldes. El umbral de los juegos, el patio de las risas, el corredor del sueño, la tapia de la angustia y el rápido regreso del viaje que no hicimos y ese viaje perenne que ya nunca acabamos. Ojalá aprendas sola, cada vez que yo salgo, algo que te haga enteros el ánimo y la sangre. Cuando llegues a este tiempo desde donde te hablo, sea tu respuesta breve, cierta y distinta a ésta. Por eso a ratos hago la que no quiero verte, la que te deja sola, la que se va y no entiende. Aunque mi sangre es tuya, la vena es diferente. Niña, quédate sola, para que estés contigo.

Girl, stay alone. Take care of the house and take care of yourself. Take keys, coins, and this pair of answers. Time calls outside. You are growing grim in serious adolescence. Do not close doors or windows. Work. Bad winds will not come if the thought is clear. Your candor in it, complete, saves its intact leaf, like the butterfly the honey between the rose. Your work will polish all the strength, girl while your naive peace makes the moment lighter the time that outside spread ashes on the temples while the deepest memories are uprooted. The 4-year-old uses a fan and handkerchiefs. The 10-year-old prepubescent with marginal thankfulness. The 15 one, surly and the 20 one, distracted the 25 one, sad, and the 30 one, rebellious. The threshold of games, the patio of laughter, the corridor of dreams, the wall of anguish, and the quick return from the trip we didn't make and that perennial journey that we never finish. I hope you learn by yourself, every time I go out, something that makes your spirit and blood complete. When you arrive at this time from where I speak to you, Let your answer be brief, true, and different from this one. That's why at times I pretend that I don't want to see you, the one that leaves you alone, the one that leaves and doesn't understand. Although my blood is yours, the vein is different. Girl, stay alone, so that you are with yourself.

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

---

About the Poet

Luz Machado (1916-1999) was a journalist, poet, essayist and diplomat. Award-winning poet in Venezuela, she wrote about life and everyday moments in many books. She was the Co-founder of the Círculo Escritores de Venezuela. "So ambitious is life when Poetry claims it for itself like a house inside."