Patricia Ariza (1946) is one of the most renowned poets, playwrights and actresses in Colombia and Latin America. In 1966 she founded the emblematic La Candelaria theater with Santiago García. Ariza is also the founder of the Corporación Colombiana de Teatro and of the festivals Festival Alternativo de Teatro and Festival Mujeres en Escena por la Paz. In the sixties she was part of the Nadaista movement. Additionally, she was one of the founders of the Unión Patriótica for which she consequently suffered political persecution and threats against her life during the genocide against this political party. Ariza has received multiple awards and distinctions including the Colombian National Award for the Defense of Human Rights (2014), the Anna Magnani Award for her play The Wind and the Ash (Brazil, 1986), the Prince Claus Award (Holland, 2007 ), the award Orden del Congreso Nacional de Colombia (2008), and the Colombian National Prize for Unpublished Poetry for her collection Hojas de papel volando (2007). In 2023 Artepoetica Press publ;ished the bilingual edition Hojas de papel volando — Paper Leaves in the Wind translated by Jennifer Rathbun. Ariza served as the first Minister of Culture in the government of Gustavo Petro.
LA BRUMA
Hoy, sobre las hojas
rojas del otoño
tuve el presentimiento
de regresar de nuevo a este lugar
sola
cruzar el secreto
de la bruma bajo los
arcos de los árboles
y no recordar nada
sino borrar mis huellas
que pudieron haber quedado
dispersas por ahí.
BRUME
Today, over autumn’s
red leaves
I had the premonition
I’d return again to this place
alone
cross the secret of
the brume beneath
the trees’ archways
and not remember a thing
but erase my footprints
that could have remained
dispersed around there.
Translated by Jennifer Rathbun
A PIZARRO
Tal vez si te hubieras sentado en otra silla,
quizás, si hubieras llevado la medallita puesta
inclusive, si te hubieras puesto el sombrero,
a lo mejor,
las balas hubieran resbalado.
Nos hubiéramos quedado
sin un pedazo de ti
pero estarías tú.
TO PIZARRO
Maybe if you would have sat in a different chair,
perhaps, if you would have worn the medallion
even if you would have put it on your hat,
possibly,
the bullets would have slid past you.
We might have been left
without a piece of you
but you would be here.
Translated by Jennifer Rathbun
TRES DÍAS
DÍA 1
Usted y yo ahora somos una relación de frases cifradas,
miradas sesgadas, mientras la pareja que nos habita nos
toma por asalto. Ellos no se conocen pero dialogan en los
silencios de nuestras conversaciones. Nos sorprenden en
las miradas. Haciendo el amor, llegan. Anoche, alguno
de ellos dos golpeó a la puerta y amanecieron pedazos
del techo sobre el piso. A veces se meten en la cama y se
aferran cada uno a nosotros, separándonos, y usted y yo
amanecemos con la mirada turbia, el silencio pegado a la
boca.
DÍA 2
Pero de pronto se marchan y volvemos usted y yo a llenar
el espacio del amor ubicado entre el esternón y el alma. Y
nos amamos en el vacío sin palabras, sin declaraciones.
La voz en la garganta y el lo amo enredado detrás de los
labios.
DÍA 3
Y ahora, usted y yo de regreso a nuestros destinos,
los veremos a ellos y, entonces seremos la pareja que
los habita, entraremos a la habitación sin golpear, nos
sentaremos a su lado, nos miraremos con la mirada limpia
y sonreiremos, dulcemente.
THREE DAYS
DAY 1
You and I are now a relationship of coded messages,
sideways glances, while the couple that lives in us takes
us by storm. They don’t know each other but they dialog
in the silences of our conversations. They surprise us in
our gaze. Making love, they arrive. Last night, one of those
two knocked on the door and pieces of the ceiling awoke
on the floor. Sometimes they climb into our bed and latch
on to us, separating us and you and I wake up with dark
eyes, silence stuck to our mouths.
DAY 2
But suddenly they leave and you and I return to fill the
space of love located between the sternum and the soul.
And we love each other in the wordless void, without
declarations. The voice in the throat and the I love him
tangled behind my lips.
DAY 3
And now, you and I return to our destiny, we will see
them, and we will be the couple that lives in them, we will
enter their room without knocking, we will sit by their
sides, we will look at each other with clear eyes and we
will smile sweetly.
Translated by Jennifer Rathbun