Paranoia de dos poetas (Poets’ Proposition)

Patsy Mcarthur: "Escape from NYC"

Por Leonardo Venta

Habríamos de danzar
sobre los rascacielos
con la imprudencia de la euforia
en peligro de caída,
viajeros de cualquier provincia a un sueño
con apostura de vagón de tren.

Habría que correr hacia allí,
donde nuestras musas esperan,
sin emular,
fraternos,
entretejidos,
como dos tropos bordados
sobre el espacio preciso de una bandera.

No temas…
no he de ultimarte con mi verso.
Lo deslizaré simplemente
a través de tus persianas entreabiertas,
con discreto gesto enamorado,
para dejarlo caer
sobre el inerte abismo de tu indolencia.



Poets’ Proposition (English title for "Paranoia de dos poetas")
by Leonardo Venta
(translation by Dr. Damon L. Lazzara)


We should dance over skylines,
courting blind, euphoric abyss—
keen vagabond travelers
leaving provinces in coach cars,
while dreaming of first-class.

We should flee to where our muses wait,
brothers with boundaries—
two tropes intertwined—
superposed on the flag’s fitted face.

We should not fear annihilation by my verse:
it merely slips between your half-open blinds—
discreet as a lover’s note—
to linger within your indolence.

Notes: 1. “abyss” is the plural of “abysm,” and can be used
as a plural or singular noun in its most common form

2. I took some poetic license with the first line of the third
stanza to maintain the parallelism set forth by the first lines
of the first two stanzas.

3. Finally, the title seemed like a logical summary of the
action within the poem, and it avoids the difficulties of the
connotations of “paranoia” and most of its synonyms.