Intimate Voices

Philip Glass - String Quartet No. 3 (Mishima): Mishima Closing (1985: Kronos Quartet)

“    It is an enormous spider that now cannot move;

a colorless spider, whose body,

a head and an abdomen, bleeds. 

    Today I watched it up close. With what effort

toward every side

it extended its innumerable legs.

And I have thought about its invisible eyes,

the spider’s fatal pilots.

    It is a spider that tremored caught

on the edge of a rock;

abdomen on one side,

head on the other. 

    With so many legs the poor thing, and still unable

to free itself. And on seeing it

confounded by its fix

today, I have felt such sorrow for that traveler. 

    It is an enormous spider, impeded by

its abdomen from following its head.

And I have thought about its eyes

and about its numerous legs…

And I have felt such sorrow for that traveler!”

By César Vallejo (Peru, 1892-1938)

From the poem: The Spider (Translated by Clayton Eshleman)

RatTail - Gasmask (2009: Demo)

3

To all, I closed my heart without wanting to.

I have lost the little key.

Perhaps it has fallen in a channel

Or it floats, confused,

In the river that separates human beings.

But I am not afraid:

Maybe one day you’ll find it

Opening in a birthday

A surprise.

By Luis Hernández (Peru, 1941-1977)

From the poem: Intimate Voices (Translated by Lena Retamoso)