Myth of Arrival

Istarú’s XV. “De dónde has llegado”

Every time I have had the opportunity to correspond with him, Dr. Samuel H. Gruber has always appeared to be a thoughtful and courteous man of science. He heads the the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas and knows more about sharks than anyone else I can think of. One of the draw backs of my liberal arts education is that it doesn't allow as much "hands on" shark experience as people with degrees in biology or hard sciences might get. For example, I recently received this e-mail from Dr. Gruber concerning volunteer opportunities in the Bahamas. It goes like this:

Volunteer positions at the Bimini Biological Field Station (Sharklab) will be available through the year starting in February 2006. The Bimini Biological Field Station in collaboration with marine biologists from Hull University (UK) and Plymouth University (UK) as well as McGill University (Canada) will be conducting field research on the population dynamics and behavior of young lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) using long line collections, visual census, telemetry-tracking and monitoring as well as observation and experiments on captive animals. A second, continuing project concerning quantitative genetics and reproductive biology will involve intensive tagging and collection of DNA from the 2006 cohort of lemon sharks born at Bimini lagoon and elsewhere.

If you have a biological background and are interested in joining the research team either as a project leader or as a volunteer–for a minimum of one month. Please contact Dr. Samuel H. Gruber at Also visit our website for more information.

There are days (like today) when the snow is piled high against my front door, when the wind is rattling the windows and I have to drive in the cold gray light to work that a month in a Bimini lagoon volunteering to work with lemon sharks sounds pretty good. Too bad my brain is wired for translating and not biology. Maybe I could get some funding to translate Bimini shark poetry from Spanish to English (if anyone has ever written such a thing)? Are there Bimini poets? Istarú is from Costa Rica. I will have to do a little research.

XV. "De dónde has llegado" Ana Istarú	XV. "Where have you come from" translated by ZJC
De dónde has llegado, hombre dormido. Qué nube te vertió, qué carabela. Quién te autoriza a este derrame de nenúfares, quién deslizó en tu tez el pájaro de plata. Te posas en mi lecho con descuido: eres un ángel olvidado dentro de un camarote. Yo no comprendo este hombre tan extenso. No puedo ya dormir: mi sábana se empeña en ser un viento alisio, la flor de lavanda. Mi almohada, que retoma su viaje de gaviotas. Mis antiguos zapatos, dos erizos. Y este hombre pequeñito, desnudo sin siquiera una gardenia. Por qué mi mano vuela a su incauta porcelana, a su carne de membrillos. Qué contratiempo. Qué miraré otra vez ya nunca si solo puedo mirar mi visistante. De dónde vino la zarza de tu ceja, los dos puntos de cobre de tu tórax. Qué pana buscaré, si no tu vello. Qué vaso, qué beso, qué ribera sin tu boca, hombre dormido. Qué pan de oro sin tu sueño.	Where have you come from, my slumbering man, What cloud splashed you out, what caravan. Who allowed you to scatter these water lilies, what silver bird flew under your skin. You recline in my bed carelessly yours is an ignored angel inside the master's house. I do not understand such leeway in this man. I cannot sleep: my sheets insists on becoming the trade wind, the essence of all lavender. My pillow resumes the trip of the sea gulls. My old shoes are two sea urchins. And this little man, without even a gardenia naked. Why does my hand fly to his careless crockery, to his quinsy flesh. What cold comfort. What will I look at again, never again if only I can look at my sleeper. Where have your bramble of eyebrows come from? the two points of your copper thorax? Velveteen. I will seek velveteen, but not in your soft, curly hair. What spout, what kiss, what shore is there without your mouth, sleeping man. What golden bread remains without your dream.

XV. "De dónde has llegado"
Ana Istarú

XV. "Where have you come from"
translated by ZJC

De dónde has llegado,
hombre dormido.
Qué nube te vertió,
qué carabela.
Quién te autoriza a este derrame
de nenúfares,
quién deslizó en tu tez
el pájaro de plata.
Te posas en mi lecho con descuido:
eres un ángel olvidado
dentro de un camarote.
Yo no comprendo este hombre
tan extenso.
No puedo ya dormir: mi sábana
se empeña en ser un viento alisio,
la flor de lavanda.
Mi almohada, que retoma
su viaje de gaviotas.
Mis antiguos zapatos, dos erizos.
Y este hombre pequeñito,
desnudo sin siquiera una gardenia.
Por qué mi mano vuela
a su incauta porcelana,
a su carne de membrillos.
Qué contratiempo.
Qué miraré otra vez ya nunca
si solo puedo mirar mi visistante.
De dónde vino la zarza de tu ceja,
los dos puntos de cobre de tu tórax.
Qué pana buscaré,
si no tu vello.
Qué vaso, qué beso,
qué ribera sin tu boca,
hombre dormido.
Qué pan de oro
sin tu sueño.

Where have you come from,
my slumbering man,
What cloud splashed you out,
what caravan.
Who allowed you to scatter
these water lilies,
what silver bird
flew under your skin.
You recline in my bed carelessly
yours is an ignored angel
inside the master's house.
I do not understand such
leeway in this man.
I cannot sleep: my sheets
insists on becoming the trade wind,
the essence of all lavender.
My pillow resumes
the trip of the sea gulls.
My old shoes are two sea urchins.
And this little man,
without even a gardenia naked.
Why does my hand fly
to his careless crockery,
to his quinsy flesh.
What cold comfort.
What will I look at again, never
again if only I can look at my sleeper.
Where have your bramble of eyebrows come from?
the two points of your copper thorax?
Velveteen. I will seek velveteen,
but not in your soft, curly hair.
What spout, what kiss,
what shore is there without your mouth,
sleeping man.
What golden bread
remains without your dream.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 10th, 2005 at 10:23 am and is filed under Scantily Clad Info Dump, Translations, Spanish Translations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Istarú’s XV. “De dónde has llegado”

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