Testimony to the Night [In English and Spanish]

In the quiet of the arctic night-
In its deep northern skies,
Dim are the lights, in its cold

Evening frost?!
Even the stars of the arctic
Seem silently stone frozen!

Here, here is where you find
Peace and the beast within-!
Remote, no ears or words

To clutter the mind
To entrench the throat;
Here, here is where you die?

(for a moment).

Here, the sky has eternal eyes
Eyes with cosmic tides
Tides that never rest: they war

With the Universe-
Likened to a dark deep abyss;
Endless and never resting?

Here my eyes seek and search
In countless hours, ebbing and
Sweeping the heavens above

Numbing, changeless-
Are the cosmos, the heavens?
Here resides a strange peace?

Here, resides a strange peace
With an army of stars to defeat
Shinning, silently in the dark

The ebbing, eldritch dark;
Time has no relevance here,
Here, resides a strange, peace?

Cold and oddly numb are my feet,
As I look up, upon the many bridges
One star bridging the next-as if,

If Kings and Queens were
Guarding them-the Hosts-
O-Yes! A strange, strange peace?

Ah! Praise, praise be to thee, to thee
Flaming, blazing firmaments-ye,
Ye, remind me not, of the wars I left,

Of the foes, divine immortals?

The enemies that never rest
Ah! Praise, praise be to thee, to thee

I hear music, harmony from afar (there)
There are storms hidden in a storehouse,
For tomorrow-war beyond, beyond

Orion's dust?perpetual dust;
There, there the sun is dim to bleak.
Here, here our sacred books are on fire?

Aw! Ye, our sacred books are all on fire;
With the hostile holy firmaments?!
Nobodies listening-to the tidings

Tiding from heaven-.
The night is my peace, my saga
But even the firmaments reject this?

I see the flames; crimson flames;
Whence I cry: when will this night die?
The sun will rise, it always has-

And the mindless will play some more?
We've put it all into human hands, now
My peace, stillness, our hours?

Off in the darkness, somewhere?!
I see no sign of tears, no tears;
A blood-red moon stirs the floor of the

Sea; with fainting breath, silently-;
Thus, void of death, they both protest.

I do not want to see the annuals-,
The annuals of warfare anymore,
The devils seed, wherein, He stirs

?stirs the cosmos: with His spectral.
I just want quiet, stillness-peace;
Strange as it may seem, it is all I seek?

Eh! yes! Oh yes, the midnight sky has eyes
Has a barbaric eye, deep barbaric eyes.
My night will soon divide, expire:

Hence, soon to recur the inviolate
The inviolate flames of humankind-;
This is my testimony to the night!...

Notes by the author: "?this is a deep, and restless poem with many images; the secret of the poem (to me) is the sun, as it has always rose, so it shall again, tomorrow, and again another tomorrow, and so shall peace not exist, as long as it is in the hands of mankind." The author has spent time in the Arctic, l996. 7/7/05 #752

This is part one of three parts; part two, to this poem is called: "House of the Goblin"?

∆

Spanish Version

Testimonio a la Noche
Translated by Nancy Pe?aloza
Edited by Rosa Pe?aloza

En la quietud de la noche ?rtica-
En sus cielos profundos del norte,
?D?biles son las luces, en sus fr?as
Noches heladas!....
A?n las estrellas del ?rtico
?Parecen silenciosamente congeladas!.....

?Aqu?, aqu? es donde Ud. encuentra
La Paz y la bestia dentro!-
Distante ni o?dos o palabras
Para confundir la mente
Para atrincherar la garganta;
Aqu?, aqu? es donde Ud. muere---

Aqu?, el cielo tiene ojos eternos
Ojos con mareas c?smicas
Mareas que nunca descansan: ellos guerrean
Con el universo-
Comparado a un profundo abismo oscuro;
Infinito y jam?s dormido-

Aqu? mis ojos investigan y buscan
En horas incontables, bajando y
Barriendo bajo los cielos
Insensible, invariable-
?Son los cosmos, el para?so?
Aqu? reside, una extra?a paz?

Aqu?, reside una paz extra?a
Con un ej?rcito de estrellas para derrotar
Brillando, silenciosamente en la oscuridad
El descenso, macabro oscuro;
El tiempo no tiene importancia aqu?,
Aqu?, reside, una extra?a paz-

Fr?o y entumecido de una manera extra?a est?n mis pies,
Mientras miro alto, sobre muchos puentes
Una estrella acorta el siguiente, como si,
Si reyes y reinas estuvieran
Guard?ndolos-los anfitriones-
?OH, si! Una extra?a paz?

?AH! Alabanza, alabanza sea para ti, a ti
Firmamentos que queman y arden- ?verdad?
Record?ndome las guerras que deje, por favor
Los adversarios e inmortales divinos
Los enemigos que no quieren la paz
?Ah! Alabanza, alabanza sea para ti, a ti

Oigo la m?sica armoniosa, desde lejos (all?)
Hay bombardeo oculto en un almac?n,
Para la guerra del ma?ana- m?s lejana, incontrolable
El polvo de Ori?n. Polvo perpetuo;
All?, all? el sol es silenciosamente negro.
All?, all?, el sol nacer? ma?ana?

?Aw! Nuestros libros sagrados est?n todos sobre el fuego;
?Hostil santo firmamento!...
Nadie escuchando. A las noticias
Noticias desde el cielo-
La noche es mi paz, mi epopeya
Pero aun los cielos desechan esto?

Veo, las llamas sobre los caminos de batalla
En donde yo grito: ?Cu?ndo se acabar? esta noche?
El sol saldr?, siempre lo hace-
?Y la estupidez jugara algo m?s?
Hemos puesto todo esto dentro de manos humanas
Mi paz, calma, nuestras horas?

Fuera de la oscuridad, ?en alg?n lugar!?
Puedo ver las estrellas, pero no las lagrimas.
Una luna roja sangrienta, movi?ndose en el mar
Con aliento desmayado, silenciosamente
Desprovisto de muerte mientras ella se hunde?

Yo, no quiero ver las anuales
Las anuales tarifas de guerra nunca m?s,
La semilla del diablo, donde se mueve
Los oc?anos con su movimiento espectral
Yo solo quiero aislamiento y paz
Extra?o como es, esto es todo lo que busco?

Pero, aun el cielo nocturno tiene ojos
Tiene ojos b?rbaros, ojos b?rbaros,
Mi noche pronto se dividir?, expirara
Mas, pronto se repetir?, las llamas inviolables
Las inviolables llamas de la humanidad-;
?Esto es mi testimonio para esta noche!....

Notas del autor: "este es un profundo, impaciente profundo poema Con mucha imaginaci?n, el secreto del poema (para mi) es el sol, Como este siempre sale, as? este saldr?, otra vez, ma?ana, y otra vez Otro ma?ana, y as? la paz no existir?, mientras esto este en las manos De la humanidad." El autor, ha permanecido un tiempo en el ?rtico, 1996. 7/7/05 #752

Dennis Siluk new book of poetry, "Spell of the Andes," see http://www.abe.com or http://www.alibris.com

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