Karel Alexei Leyva Ferrer [Cuba]

 

Nautical
 
I
 
Tree was I,
substances, strands.
In some jungle my roots still sleep.
In spite of it all, tree was I
and on the fallen leaves I saw my voice multiplied,
I’ve known the greenery, the pain of winter,
the tranquil shadows,
the flight of ancient birds.
Tree was I, no more,
substances
strands 
 
II
 
On the dock,
hands tied by a scream,
a suicide
 
From the command bridge,
eyes saved by the shade,
the lookout answers the call.
 
It is a dialogue between pariahs,
the ship is there,
it never departed
the dreams of the suicide.
 
III
 
At his home, the captain has,
over the central frieze,
a bottled ship
 
After finishing his task
he sits down to contemplate it
 
Very little has changed
 
The captain knows that a bottled ship
isn’t safe either no one can know with what turn of the wind
we’ll run aground by the reef
 
This is why piloting it is better from the frieze
with its gray stain like a cove
where the captain
docks
his sleep
 
IV
 
From the highest window of childhood
I say goodbye to these ships.
 
I will not set sail on them,
I return to them solitude,
moors,
pristine greenery,
narrow cove.
 
I wear my quiver tight around my chest,
a rope together
with some ordinances
 
Ah, Ithaca
I had no heart for war
and while spilling the salt I ignored the malefice!
 
The sloops are loaded with kings
and with a silent gesture
I bid them farewell 
 
V
 
We have opened the fish,
there were no secrets,
It didn’t warn us if the next
storm would be at dawn.
 
No sooner it fell on the deck
we knifed it
belly up,
its open guts
unable to gather air
to save it.
 
The cut was clumsy,
maybe we hurried too much,
and the fish has hushed
refusing its chores.
 
Who will eat this meat,
this bad omen,
this disinformation?
 
We have opened the fish,
blindly we wander
close to our cowardice.
 
We hear the wind,
canopies seeming to wake up.
Each man dissimulates
finding his post,
the ship goes round
and round,
and on the deck the fish,
suspiciously naïve,
smiles.
 
VI
 
Warn the stowaway
it’s already tomorrow,
time to wear your best scam suit.
 
The border of the abyss
tells us we could have avoided it
and the helmsman, still asleep,
doesn’t know fate wears a costume.
 
Let us have more faith in us
maybe the ark
Lasts till the next day.
 
VII
 
These are the bridges
we lifted up without knowing
they would bring such awful star
 
What cruet is invulnerable to mockery
tell me
perhaps we should prostrate ourselves,
mete out remaining virtues drop by drop?
 
These they are,
On them escaped the virgins,
the mistletoe
 
The columns mother are useless
the bridges brought us this anxiety
and on them it will leave
 
I’ve prepared my spear
save that hemp
let the sun polish the alabasters
 
VIII
 
Depart
claim your kingdom at dawn,
nobody waits for you here.
 
This word wounds
like a univocal slamming of the door
 
Do not look behind
there is a void
driving you to fall
 

 
Author’s Bionote:
 
*Karel Alexei Leyva Ferrer (Santiago, Cuba, 1975):Writer and cultural promoter, coordinator of the Havana International Poetry Festival, vice president of the literary group Aladécima of the Iberoamerican Center for the Décima and Improvised Verse. For his literary work, he has obtained the following awards and recognitions: First prize in the national erotic poetry contest Farraluque in its 5th and 10th edition (2001 and 2006); Third prize in the national poetry contest Regino Pedroso, from the newspaper Trabajadores (2004) and the International Poetry Prize Nosside Caribe (2005), among other recognitions. He has published the poetry books: Ágape Inconexo  (Editorial Hipocampo 2001); Cambios de Marea 2 (Ediciones Naderau 2005 and Ediciones Santiago 2008, Cuba); Escenas Cotidianas (Ediciones Colección Sur, Cuba, 2010); Sucesiones (Colección La hoja Murmurante, editorial La tinta del Alcatraz, Toluca México, 2015); Vitral (Colección Sur, 2020): Aparase included in the anthology Poesía Cubana de Hoy (Editorial Grupo 0, Spain, 1994); Nueve Poetas y una Estrofa  (Editorial Lengua de Víbora, Cuba, 2001), Donde la Demasiada Luz (Editorial Lengua de Víbora, Cuba, 2001); Antología de Poesía Abrace (Editorial Abrace, Uruguay, 2006), Otras Islas  (Cuberat, Cuba – Italia, 2008); Esta Cárcel de Aire Puro (Casa Editorial Abril, Cuba, 2010), La Octava más Alta de las Flautas (Ediciones Media Noche, Zacatecas, México 2011); El Árbol en la Cumbre (Letras Cubanas 2014); Para Llegar Hasta Ti (Casa Editorial Abril, 2015); Una Gota de Luz Inapresable (Italia-2017); Antología de Poesía Cubano Eslovena 2020,(Colección Sur, Cuba), among others; Likewise, his texts have been published in the magazines Extramuros, El Indio del Jarama, Caimán Barbudo, and various websites with greater presence in Cubaladécima, Cubapoesia, Uneac, Palabra del Mundo. He was awarded the Tropical Gypsy Distinction of Havana in 2019 and the 45th Anniversary Medal of the Workers Newspaper in 2020, among other recognitions for literary and promotional work.