Prueba ontológica (Ontological Proof)

                     
                           Cur dea mulier?

Señor Walker y sus filibusteros
destruyeron la mujer bellísima
que era la ciudad de Granada.

Los Granadinos lloraron.

Y después de las lágrimas
grabadas en memoria y imagen
la construyeron de nuevo
aún más bella que antes....

E. A. Costa Granada, Nicaragua noviembre 27, 2014


Ontological Proof
                    
                       Cur dea mulier?

Mr. Walker and his filibusters
ravaged the exquisite woman
who was the city of Granada.

The Granadinos wept.

And after all the tears
graven in memory and image
they raised her anew
even fairer than before....

[Translated E. A. Costa]

Galleta de mar (The Sand Dollar)

On the vacant beach

white as first snow

a mountain bicycle

and a man nearby

stooped over the sand.

He gestures--”¡Venga! ¡Mire!--

¿Habla español?”

“Sí.”

“Y esto. ¿Qué es? ¿Cómo se llama esto?”

He holds up a sand dollar.

“Es una criatura del mar que vive

bajo la arena como una almeja...”

“¡Qué bonita! ¡Qué bonita!...”

He traces the star

gently with his finger

as if it were a lover.

“Sí, el mar es lugar

con cosas bonitas sin fin...”

On the vacant beach

white as one's first snow

a mountain bike

and a man nearby

stooped over the sand....

E. A. Costa San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua  18 noviembre 2014

Gorgias Resartus

              Omnis scientia est de universali,

                quod est unum in multis, quia de

                singularibus non est  scientia... 

                                                     (Duns Scotus)

The individuum does not exist.

If the individuum exists, it is not knowable.

If the individuum is knowable, it is not communicable.

E. A. Costa 30 October, 2014 Granada, Nicaragua

La Bala (Salomón de la Selva)

La bala

La bala que me hiera
será bala con alma.
El alma de esa bala
será como sería
la canción de una rosa
si las flores cantaran
o el olor de un topacio
si las piedras olieran,
o la piel de una música
si nos fuese posible
tocar a las canciones
desnudas con las manos.

Si me hiere el cerebro
me dirá: yo buscaba
sondear tu pensamiento.

Y si me hiere el pecho
me dirá: ¡Yo quería
decirte que te quiero!

Salomón de la Selva

The Bullet

The bullet that wounds me
will be a bullet with soul.
The soul of the bullet will be
as might be the song of a rose
if flowers could sing,
or the smell of a topaz
if stones had fragrance,
or the skin of music
if it were possible for us
to touch songs stripped bare
with our hands.



If it smashes into my brain
it will tell me: I was trying to sound out
your thought.


If it wounds me in the heart
it will tell me: I wanted to tell you
it is you I long for.


Tr. E. A. Costa 28 October, 2014 Granada, Nicaragua

[Original photo EAC. Click on image to enlarge]

Is Life Evaporation?

Is life evaporation?

Do we savor the odor

of the sun?

Or do we sublimate

into the light

and so

again

obliterate

time,

falling

like rain

on

the sea.

E. A. Costa October 6, 2014 Granada, Nicaragua 

Storm In Far Country Recently Electrificated

Drops on tin

hardly heard—then

torrents and grumbling thunder,

bulls bellowing madly under the metal roof,

cows lowing mercy.

In the murmuring grow rivulets

scowling with flashes of lightning.

The night thirsts for fear.

The corrugated roof

screeches and howls

for seeming hours,

for the sin of protection

or for the arrogance of its erection?

A drip begins by the bed.

Diminution is showers

ungrowing slowly--

what weatherman called them light or heavy?

The rest of the night

is soaking rain with no run off.

City falls uneasily to sleep.

The peasants dream of pigs and chickens and geese

fattened on rice and beans.

E. A. Costa October 4, 2014  Granada, Nicaragua

Lake Möbius (Lago Möbius)

                 “Words can be like X-rays if you use

                  them properly -- they’ll go through anything."

                                                                       (Aldous Huxley)

Greatest among rivers

is River Ocean

which winds up and down

around the world

layered in seven spheres

through which shines

the cold indifferent moon....

Lago Möbius

                   “Words can be like X-rays if you use

                     them properly -- they’ll go through anything."

                                                                            (Aldous Huxley)

El mayor entre los ríos

es Río Océano que serpentea

arriba y abajo alrededor

del mundo estratificado

en siete esferas por las cuales

brilla la luna fría y indiferente....

E. A. Costa 19 September 2014, Granada, Nicaragua