Eileen Tabios (with Rebeka Lembo)
Eileen: I wrote these poems in the hay(na)ku form because I was interested in compression. For instance, the "first drafts" of the poems "Untitled" and "Rebirth" are actually diary entries, each of which run about 500 words. I wanted to write compressed poems that I thought might retain the diary entries' emotional weight, while also transcending -- as many poems do -- their biographical sources. I chose the hay(na)ku because its constraint facilitates minimalism: the basic hay(na)ku is a tercet where one line is one word, the second line is two words, and the third line is three words. I created the hay(na)ku as a diasporic poetic form; more information about it may be found here, here and here.
Rebeka: Translating hay(na)kus from English into Spanish poses an authentic and extraordinary challenge. It is, without a doubt, an exercise of wit. While in English one is blessed with a myriad of possibilities, the rigid grammatical requirements inherent to Spanish—such as the unavoidable and mandatory use of articles before nouns—become an obstacle. This is not, however, a negative feature. It is, in fact, the contrary. It is an enticing opportunity to glue what will always be broken. In the case of Eileen Tabios’ hay(na)kus, I was surprised and delighted when I noticed the different and colorful compositions that were possible through my gluing of the pieces. On a different note, musicality in "Rebirth" and "Untitled" opened up a world of timbres. I imagined these poems as those crucial, still, and unforgettable moments in an opera. So I had to ask them to sing for me in Spanish, in Italian.
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How To Write A Poem
You
are real.
I start there.
How To Read A Poem
I
Is false.
You start there.
¿Cómo escribir un poema?
Tú
eres real.
Yo empiezo ahí.
Tú,
es real.
Yo, empieza ahí.
Usted
es real.
Yo empiezo ahí.
¿Cómo leer un poema?
Yo
no existo.
Tú empiezas ahí.
Yo,
no existe.
Tú, empieza ahí.
Yo
no existo.
Usted empieza ahí.
Untitled
To
forget your
name leaves me
whole
to defend
against love's death
Sin titulo
Olvidar
tu nombre
me da entereza
para
defenderme así
del amor muerto.
Senza titolo
Dimenticare Il tuo
nome, mi
lascia
intera
per difendermi
dell’amore morto.
Rebirth
How
to unlock
the steel handcuffs
of an aftermath?
How to
live?
Renacer
¿Cómo
soltarnos del
frío metal? Nos
encadena tras la
desgracia. ¿Cómo
vivir?
Rinascere
Come
lasciarci del
freddo metallo? Ci
incatena dopo la
disgrazia. Come
vivere?
_________________________
Eileen R. Tabios has released 14 print, four electronic and 1 CD poetry collections, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, and a short story book. Her most recent books are The Light Sang As It Left Your Eyes (Marsh Hawk Press, 2007) and SILENCES: The Autobiography of Loss (Blue Lion, 2007). In her poetry, she has crafted a body of work that is unique for melding ekphrasis with transcolonialism. Her poems have been translated into Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Paintings, Video, Drawings, Visual Poetry, Mixed Media Collages, Kali Martial Arts, Modern Dance and Sculpture. She blogs at The Blind Chatelaine's Poker Poetics.
Rebeka Lembo was born in 1978, has completed a degree in Dramatic Arts, and is now pursuing a degree in Letters & Literature at UNAM in Mexico City.