After Mario Bencastro’s Algo tiene el otoño

This evening, as we end a remarkably warm and sunny November day and prepare for Wednesday's snow and rain, I thought I'd post translator and poet Allyson Lima's "After Mario Bencastro's Algo tiene el otoño."   

After Mario Bencastro’s  Algo tiene el otoño

Autumn

leaves tremble

twirl veins in last light

let go sun-saturated off branches

spin on the wind—tease gravity

dazzling language of colors speak

of other goodbyes

loosed in air

Autumn

Landscape goes Van Gogh yellow

Matisse red

Gauguin orange

Chagall’s green

evening sky goes indigo

moonlight spills her silver dreams

over our warring planet

Autumn

sun lifts radiant morning into day

gives life to birds and flowers

says to humans Get up! Go

unearth dreams, plant seeds

for silent spying Spring.

                                                                 Allyson Lima  11-04-2014

Allyson is currently collaborating with noted author Mario Bencastro on a book of translations of his poetry.  Her poem above will be included in their book.  Next summer she will also present a paper on a Bencastro's fiction at an international conference on Latin American Literature in San Salvador this July. 

Discussing her own work, she has stated: "I am interested in the power of visual objects in art and in literature, that when read in relationship, generate new meanings. "

The painting above is Van Gogh's "Falling Autumn Leaves," one of a pair of paintings from 1888.  

Let's close with some music to evoke memories of the fall.

I'll start with Miles Davis' version of "Autumn Leaves":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsp5OASh7bg

The Damian Latin Jazz Project perform "Autumn Leaves" live in New York: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YJ9TnfqolM

Here is a Latin Jazz version of "Autumn in New York":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTz1MwwKNM

I'll finish with Luis Gasca's version of "Calle Doce":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odQbx3i-mE0

Enjoy!