Posted on July 3, 2010 | 
Clément is the ghoul, the outsider—always longing for what he cannot have, which is probably why he’s mad-crazy about Octavio Paz and especially this poem. It is haunting, you know. I like it in Spanish, but also translated … I think by Clément.
Hermandad
Homenaje a Claudio Ptolomeo
Soy hombre: duro poco
y es enorme la noche.
Pero miro hacia arriba:
las estrellas escriben.
Sin entender comprendo:
tambien soy escritura
y en este mismo instante
alguien me deletrea.
Brotherhood
Homage to Claudius Ptolemy
I am a man: little do I last
and the night is enormous.
But I look upward:
the stars write.
Without knowing, I understand:
I, too, am written,
and at this very moment
someone spells me out.
—Octavio Paz
—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice
Orchid photo courtesy of Lowry McFerrin, copyright Lowry McFerrin
