Jacqueline Herranz Brooks
Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana. Cuba. Junio, 2018
Poesía Repatriada (poema #1: silla)
Y en la realidad de aquí, en la realidad de ahora, en la realidad desde donde escribo, ha empezado a amanecer. Y al mirar la sala, he sentido miedo. Yo estaba bailando y sentada en esta silla a la vez, callada y preguntándome cuándo fue que vine a enterrarme delante de esta pantalla de vidrio, por qué lo de afuera da vueltas dentro, por qué el coro sigue diciendo: así vamos viendo si salimos de este embarque y avanzamos.
Repatriated Poetry (poem #1: chair)
and in the reality of here, in the reality of now, in the reality of from where I write the light of day is coming. and when I look at the room, I feel afraid. I was dancing and sitting in this chair at the same time, silent and wondering how I came to bury myself in front of this glass screen, why the outside turns inside, why the chorus keeps saying: so let’s see if we get out of this rut and move forward.
“Poesía Repatriada. Poema de la silla” originally appeared in Multilingual Anthology: The Americas Poetry Festival of New York, Carlos Aguasaco, Yrene Santos and Carlos Velázquez Torres, Eds. (Artepoética Press, 2018), pp. 70-71.
Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas. Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana. Cuba. Junio 2018
Poesía Repatriada (poema #2 puente)
Para confiar debo entregarme. Si me entrego no hay lucha. Si no lucho es porque me rindo. Si me rindo, me pueden patear. Si me patean, es porque los dejo. Porque confío.
Repatriated Poetry (poem #2 bridge)
To trust, I must surrender. If I surrender, there is no struggle. If I do not struggle, it’s because I give up. If I give up, they can kick me. If they kick me, it’s because I allow them. Because I trust.
Jacqueline Herranz Brooks is a Cuban author and interdisciplinary artist based in New York. Her work takes various forms, including documentary photography, soundscape interpretation, multimedia installation, and urban interventions. Herranz, who is interested in the processes of the fictionalization of memory, is the author of Liquid Days (Argentina, 1997), Escenas para Turistas (New York, 2003), Mujeres sin Trama (New York, 2011), and Viaje en Almendrón (installation book for Gallery Miller, 2015).