Translation of the Poet Paula Abramo
RUDOLF JOSIP LAUFF, MAGYAR, IMPRISONED IN POLAND BY THE RED ARMY AND WON OVER TO BOLSHEVISM
no but the cloud look
how big the cloud is
wandering by
weigh it in your hand and you won’t think
about magnesium burning inside
a blue sphere
breaking slowly into pieces something very sharp runs through you
you’re nothing but wires down the middle
nothing but tiny plentiful fingernails
absurd, minimal, ridiculous
faint-hearted
you’re such a tiny crumb that the cloud
— better look at the cloud and think about it
because right now it’s obvious
patent, confirmed, certain
that a spark
the royal evanescent flame of a match
you can’t
you’re not worthy
of lighting it
But if everything were reduced
to zero
if the voltage dropped to zero,
if the cables registered
zero,
if the trains
carried nothing, and the papers
reported nothing
and zero
boxes of matches
and zero the output
of the seamstresses,
if the steel cogs fell silent
in an instant
and no walls or roofs were raised
not even a puff of factory smoke
suddenly
then, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
you’d understand.
That’s what they told you, Rudolf,
or maybe not;
maybe the people’s commissar
talked about the war
or not that either,
but surely you looked at the fists
covered in eloquent welts
from the cold
and you didn’t feel hunger
that day,
you were full of the days to come,
when you took up the war and the journey
and dressed in leather
leather all black.
Everyone in black leather,
on that endless train,
carrying so much weight,
making so many shoes
and a newspaper too
all en route.
Five times around the world.
Five times and a half,
the distance
traveled through snow and muck and storms,
and all of you, you too Rudolf,
all of you went,
all made one, in a feverish unstoppable
stampede,
armored comrades
converting
slime and fear
into anthem and flame.
Rudolf Josip Lauff, magiar, apresado en Polonia por el
Ejército Rojo y ganado al bolchevismo
no pero la nube mira
qué gorda va la nube
pasa
pésala con tu mano y ya no pienses
si adentro magnesio ardiente
una esfera azul
rompiendo despacito algo muy duro te recorre
que estás toda de alambres en el centro
toda de uñas minúsculas copiosa
absurda mínima ridícula
encogida
y eres tan una migaja que la nube
–mejor mira la nube y piensa en ella
porque por el momento es obvio
patente confirmado una certeza
que una chispa
la llamita real y evanescente de un cerillo
no puedes
ni eres digna de encenderla
Pero si todo a cero
se redujera,
si a cero el voltaje, si lo dicho
por los cables
a cero
llegara
si nada
llevaran los trenes, y a cero
ascendieran los diarios y a cero
las cajas de fósforos
y nada engendraran
las costureras
si callara el acero
de los engranes todos
en un instante
y no crecieran los muros ni los techos
ni en humo en el buche de la industria
de golpe,
entonces, ya sin duda, entenderías.
Eso te dijeron, Rudolf,
o quizá no;
hablaría
el comisario del pueblo de la guerra
o tampoco,
pero seguro que te contemplaste los puños
florecidos de elocuentes sabañones
y no sentiste hambre
ese día,
lleno ya de días siguientes,
en que asumiste la guerra y el trayecto
y te vestiste de cuero,
todo negro.
Todo negro era el cuero,
y los vagones tantos,
y el peso tanto, y tantos los zapatos,
y el diario hecho en la ruta.
Cinco vueltas al mundo.
Cinco vueltas y media,
la distancia
rodada entre la nieve, el lodo, las tormentas
y todos, y tú, Rudolf, iban todos
hechos ya uno, febriles de estampida
ininterrupta,
camaradas blindados,
convirtiendo
la lama y el pavor
en himno y llama.
Paula Abramo lives in Mexico City. This poem comes her from book FIAT LUX, a cycle of poems about her ancestors, many of them political refugees—including her grandmother who worked in a factory in Brazil making matches for the brand “Fiat Lux.” Hence all of the poems revolve around the image of striking a match.
Dick Cluster lives in Oakland, California. His translation of Abramo’s book FIAT LUX was published in a bilingual edition by FlowerSong Press in July 2022. Another recent translation is Gabriela Alemán’s story collection FAMILY ALBUM, from City Lights Books.