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 Peñaloza
Edited by Rosa Peñaloza

En la quietud de la noche Ártica-
En sus cielos profundos del norte,
¡Débiles son las luces, en sus frías
Noches heladas!....
Aún las estrellas del Ártico
¡Parecen silenciosamente congeladas!.....

¡Aquí, aquí es donde Ud. encuentra
La Paz y la bestia dentro!-
Distante ni oídos o palabras
Para confundir la mente
Para atrincherar la garganta;
Aquí, aquí es donde Ud. muere---

Aquí, el cielo tiene ojos eternos
Ojos con mareas cósmicas
Mareas que nunca descansan: ellos guerrean
Con el universo-
Comparado a un profundo abismo oscuro;
Infinito y jamás dormido-

Aquí mis ojos investigan y buscan
En horas incontables, bajando y
Barriendo bajo los cielos
Insensible, invariable-
¿Son los cosmos, el paraíso?
Aquí reside, una extraña paz?

Aquí, reside una paz extraña
Con un ejército de estrellas para derrotar
Brillando, silenciosamente en la oscuridad
El descenso, macabro oscuro;
El tiempo no tiene importancia aquí,
Aquí, reside, una extraña paz-

Frío y entumecido de una manera extraña están mis pies,
Mientras miro alto, sobre muchos puentes
Una estrella acorta el siguiente, como si,
Si reyes y reinas estuvieran
Guardándolos-los anfitriones-
¡OH, si! Una extraña paz?

¡AH! Alabanza, alabanza sea para ti, a ti
Firmamentos que queman y arden- ¿verdad?
Recordándome 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 música armoniosa, desde lejos (allí)
Hay bombardeo oculto en un almacén,
Para la guerra del mañana- más lejana, incontrolable
El polvo de Orión. Polvo perpetuo;
Allí, allí el sol es silenciosamente negro.
Allí, allí, el sol nacerà mañana?

¡Aw! Nuestros libros sagrados están 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: ¿Cuándo se acabará esta noche?
El sol saldrá, siempre lo hace-
¿Y la estupidez jugara algo más?
Hemos puesto todo esto dentro de manos humanas
Mi paz, calma, nuestras horas?

Fuera de la oscuridad, ¡en algún lugar!?
Puedo ver las estrellas, pero no las lagrimas.
Una luna roja sangrienta, moviéndose 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 más,
La semilla del diablo, donde se mueve
Los océanos con su movimiento espectral
Yo solo quiero aislamiento y paz
Extraño como es, esto es todo lo que busco?

Pero, aun el cielo nocturno tiene ojos
Tiene ojos bárbaros, ojos bárbaros,
Mi noche pronto se dividirá, expirara
Mas, pronto se repetirá, 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 imaginación, el secreto del poema (para mi) es el sol, Como este siempre sale, así este saldrá, otra vez, mañana, y otra vez Otro mañana, y así la paz no existirá, mientras esto este en las manos De la humanidad." El autor, ha permanecido un tiempo en el ártico, 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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