21 agosto, 2006

Monumenta Mexicana atque Caliphurniana

Well, the International Neo-Latin conference is over. It was nice: a gorgeous site (the patinate building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences right on the bank of the Danube) and excellent organization – thanks to the Institute of Literary Science of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences –, an exceptional number of outstanding papers, charming people, fine chats in coffee breaks, lots of new connections, and a good amount of Studiolum CDs sold! (the favourite was, of course, the CD edition of Erasmus’ Adagia).

We shared a stand with William H. Cooper, who offered a delightful collection of Latin epopees by Francisco Caprario (Franciscus Caprarius, 1916-) on Mexican history as well as on the life of Benito Juárez, accompanied with his own English translation. During our long conversations in the dead hours of lunch breaks he also revealed us the roots of his gusto for this fascinating mixture of languages and cultures that lay in the variegated culture of his Californian homeland, the culture of the American ranches with Spanish-tongued Indian workers, and the culture of “Spanglish” dialect, illustrated by the poems he shared with us and we now happily share with you, as exactly this varietas lays at the very heart of Studiolum as well.

California Qué Bonita

California qué bonita
te veo en la mañana
dark surcos stretching to the sun
rows of bright water reflecting el amanecer
que viene so swift
so slow
detrás de los cerros azules
of the Tepesquet.

California qué bonita
te veo en el mediodia
full light pours down
sobre el valle
revealing everything
la brisa de la tarde
starts to move
en soplitos.

California qué bonita
te veo en la puesta del sol
high cirrus clouds se pintan
color naranja
the orange light bathes
el verde de campos de batabel.

California qué bonita
te veo en la noche
once again te haces misteriosa
retreating into looming shadow shapes
¡miras!
the first star.


Hay Dos

En mi cielo
vuelan dos banderas
.
en mi vida
andan dos razas
.
en mi jardín
crecen dos plantas
.
en mi mesa
esperan dos comidas
.
en mi voz
suenan dos lenguas
.
en mi guitarra
toco dos canciones
.
Yo soy un hijo de California
California
California –
mi tierra querida.

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