WORLD VOICES

FIVE POETS FROM LATIN AMERICA
  TRANSLATED BY ILAN STAVANS


Contents

Home
About the Authors

León de Greiff
White Moon

Jorge Luis Borges
Borges and I

Dulce María Loynáz
The Mirror
Love Is…
I Dream of Classifying…

Darío Jaramillo Agudelo
Love Poem 8
Salinger Speaks
Imaginary Biography of
     Graham Greene

Santiago Mutis Durán
May 5th Night

World Voices Home

The Literary Explorer
Writers on the Job
Books Forgotten
Thomas E. Kennedy
Walter Cummins
Web Del Sol



Darío Jaramillo Agudelo

Love Poem 8

Your tongue, your wise tongue that invents my skin,
your fire tongue that burns me,
your tongue that creates the instant of insanity, delirium
of the body in love
your tongue, sacred whip, sweet ember,
invocation of fire that takes me out of myself,
that transforms me,
your tongue of unmodest flesh,
your tongue of surrender that demands everything from me,
your very mine tongue,
your beautiful tongue electrifying my lips, making yours the body you have purified,
your tongue exploring and discovering me,
your gorgeous tongue also knowing how to say it loves me.

—Translated by Ilan Stavans