Tuesday, August 26, 2014

A Cappella is Music



image borrowed from bing


A Cappella is Music

“With a cappella groups, every voice is like one
string on the guitar.”--Ben Folds.

A cappella is music,
                 blank columns,
                 Muslim blankets.
To paraphrase the moon, 
you must activate the intrigue.
My a cappella is laboriously savage; anti-social.
                You are salvation on high,
                             the very foundation of the planet.

Furious loneliness lives       in tunnels;
                             my humanity was lost,
                                            parceled out;
but you are my lovely night,
                             & I entreat you to invade
                             my ponderance.
Partly sober, but vivacious, the forte
                             leaped into my arms; time now
to emerge into flesh
within my embrace.

Please accept the heat of my vengeance,
                              for you are the Love;
A cappella peeled naked,
                  the music is the elixir of life’s ferocity.
Oh, the verses of patricide!
Oh, the eyes of ascension!
Oh, your roses strewn in public!
Oh, your sweet letters so triumphant!

A cappella is my music, persistently
                           within your grace;
my words uttered only create
                           limited answers, leaving my soul
indecisive. 
Obscurity,
chaos, 
declarations,
eternal signs,
                           as you smile tirelessly,
                           as you relinquish it all
forever. 

************************************************************

Cuerpo de mujer

Cuerpo de mujer, blancas colinas, muslos blanco,
te pareces al mundo en tu activad del entraga.
Mi cuerpo de labriego salvaje te socava,
y hace saltar el hijo del fundo de la tierra.

Fui solo como un tunel. De mi huian los pajaros,
y en mi la noche entraba su invasion poderosa.
Para sobrevivirme le forje como un arma,
como una flecha en mi arco, como una piedra en
mi honda.

Pero cae la hora de la venganza, y le amo.
Cuerpo da piel, de musgo, da leche avida y firme.
Ah los vasos del pecho! Ah los ojos de ausencia!
Ah los rosas del pubis! Ah tu voz lenta y triste!

Cuerpo de mujer mia, persistine en tu gracia.
Mi sed, mi ansia sin limite, mi camino indeciso!
Oscuros caices don de le sed eterna signe,
y la fatiga signe, y el dolor infinito.

Pablo Neruda

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics

Would you like to hear the author read this Homophonic Translation to you?

18 comments:

Brian Miller said...

to paraphrase the moon...ha...what a line...dude, you made it into a read poem...your brain must be wired a bit better than mine...you can see things, cant you? ha...now, just keep the heat of your vengence to yourself for now...i did nothing wrong, just welcoming you back...smiles.

brudberg said...

Oh to be partly sober.. I guess that are the occasions when I break out a Capella too.. (especially towards the moon).. I love how it actually makes sense... Mine has to be read back and forth to get some real sense into it.

Marina Sofia said...

Outstanding - you really have made this poem your own. Very far removed from the original content, if I'mnot mistaken, but that's not the point. You have allowed your mind free reign and you have come up with some amazing associations. I particularly like 'furious loneliness lives in tunnels' and the final stanza.

Claudia said...

very cool glenn... a poem that makes total sense and still echoes the cuerpo de mujer... well done sir - and welcome back - hope you had a good time at the ocean

Mark Butkus said...

That is brilliant Glenn! I loved what you wrote about music and then I got to the Neruda poem which I know quite well and could see your poem as a perfect companion piece to it. Women are our muse, our music. Brilliant!

Unknown said...

Some beautiful lines and wise words there, I must say.

Grace said...

Your words are divine Glenn with cadence of Neruda verses ~ I admire how you twined cappella with music and love ~ Those ending verses are so romantic ~

Unknown said...

welcome back to the pub Glenn!! You really did an amazing job here; I loved, "Partly sober, but vivacious, the forte
leaped into my arms; time now
to emerge into flesh
within my embrace." I'm usually the partly sober, vivacious one... don't leap into anyone's arms, tho, I may crush something/someone... hah

Anonymous said...

Cool—different—I like your interpretation.

Margaret said...

I am so sold that this IS the real interpretation :) - it is so gorgeous and full of passion! Wowzers!

Kathy Reed said...

I've always translated that poem of Neruda's literally, describing a woman's body, but I see it can translate into another dimension..the moon, a muse,
a song "a cappella, and tale of vengeance... and your imagination...fearless love!

Susan said...

LOVE that first stanza and the textures it finds in a cappella music. And everything else. Bravo!

rallentanda said...

muslos blanco - muslim blankets..LOL...

Robin Pierce said...

Are you sure you mean 'muslim blankets' and not 'muslin blankets'? Muslim is religion...while 'muslin' is a type of cloth: "Muslin (/ˈmʌslɨn/ or /ˈmjuːslɨn/) is a cotton fabric of plain weave.[1][2] It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting." from the wikipedia about 'muslin'.

Glenn Buttkus said...

Actually I meant the religion, Robin, but thanks for the clarifications--it refers to the prayer cloth they kneel on.

Anonymous said...

I love "To paraphrase the moon,
you must activate the intrigue."

And these:

"Furious loneliness lives in tunnels" (very effective spacing)

"but you are my lovely night,
& I entreat you to invade
my ponderance."

"please accept the heat of my vengeance"

Robin Pierce said...

Thank you for the calm clarification, it is very appreciated. :) For that, I will share your blog-post link on all my social networks.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

That's wonderful! You've done a brilliant job to create a poem that stands in its own right regardless of origin.