Carilda Oliver Labra: «…I Love Time»
«I believe in galaxies and viruses, / I am a tremendous animal. / I should be tired of life; / I only tire of dying.»
(Excerpts from the poem «Auto de fe»)
Carilda Oliver Labra spreads her poetry through Matanzas in the sea breeze that comes from the bay or in the sound of voices that vibrate in Pueblo Nuevo, travel along Tirry boulevard, cross the bridge, and flow into Plaza de la Vigía to make their way down Calle del Medio, in search of «an illusion.»
This summer, the National Literature Prize winner is remembered, as Carilda was born on July 6, 1922.
There is no Yumurino who has not read some of her poems, collected in more than 30 titles, or reflected on her articles, or enjoyed her stories published in magazines and newspapers.
Carilda never left Matanzas or her house at Tirry 81, although her fame extended to Europe and she traveled throughout the Americas. As a poet once said, «she lived for love and felt sorrow, but her gaze was always clean.»
Our city became the stage for her poetic walk, in rhymes where the passion of love is heard and, at the same time, «the social clamor,» which highlight her active participation in the life of this beautiful island.
Over the decades, she remains alive in the heartbeat of the streets, in the rivers and bridges of this city she so loved and sang in her verses.
«Forgive me this bustle with tenderness, / this forget-me-not I snuff out in one stroke, / this pain so hard I placed on the wing.»
