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Events
CESAR VALLEJO (Peru: 1892- Paris- 1938)
Translations by Michael Smith and Valentino Gianuzzi
THE DISTANT FOOTSTEPS
My father sleeps. His august aspect
portrays a peaceful heart;
he is now so sweet . . .
if there is any bitterness in him, it will be me.
There is solitude in the hearth; there is praying;
and there is no news of the children today.
My father wakes up, he scans
the flight to Egypt, the cracking farewell.
He is now so close;
if there is any farness in him, it will be me.
And my mother strolls down by the orchards,
savouring an already flavourless flavour.
She is now so gentle,
so wing, so forward, so love.
There is solitude in the tranquil hearth,
without news, without green, without childhood.
And if there is anything broken this afternoon
and that descends and crackles,
it is two old white roads, curving.
My heart goes along them on foot.