According to the “Pasadena Climate” page of the city’s official Web site, Pasadena “has a Mediterranean climate.” But with their yuccas and cacti, local hiking trails sometimes offer a distinctly desert vibe.
In his Spanish-language poem “Mi Desierto,” presented here with his own English translation, our Poet Laureate Robert Savino Oventile steps into a local desert of the imagination.
Mi Desierto
Abajo el azul,
camino en
mi desierto
entre creosota,
salvia blanca
y yucas altas.
En el silencio
los zanates cantan
sus siete canciones.
My Desert
Below the blue,
I walk in
my desert
among creosote,
white sage,
and tall yuccas.
In the silence
the grackles sing
their seven songs.
— Robert Savino Oventile
Local News Pasadena (LNP) publishes poems grounded in current news events from the greater Pasadena, California area. Submit your own poetry here.
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This is beautiful, peaceful and strong: A singular presence but not alone, rather claiming the land as your own. I love the music of the original Spanish, and I think the translation is very good.
One thing, though, I needed to research, and I think it might be good to tell readers not familiar with Mexican legend:
“According to a Mexican legend, the Great-tailed Grackle has seven songs. The legend says that the bird stole the songs from a sea turtle.”
I love this too, because it brings in the sea, which occupied the land millenia ago. And illustrates how audiacious the grackle is, much like the poet who owns this landscape.
“Seven songs” sounds right, though. It’s got a feel of magical reality. I wrote something about the seven stately sisters standing tall (cypress trees). I decided to count them on my walk next day, and there were only five. But seven stayed in my poem, alliterative, like your songs.
Thanks for these thoughtful and generous comments!