The Universal Language of Poetry at Puentes Poéticos (+audio and photos).

This Wednesday afternoon, poetry was heard naked and out loud. It took off its woven garments of Spanish, English or Arabic to wrap itself in a more universal mantle, that of its own language, the poetic one.

On Wednesday afternoon, poetry was heard naked and out loud. It took off its Spanish, English or Arabic woven garments to wrap itself in a more universal mantle, that of its own language, the poetic one.

He was accompanied by the burning sun that bathed the entire Plaza de la Vigia and beings from another world who, coming from various nations, carrying different languages, communicate in a synchronized and effective way because, in the end, in their expression they share codes and signs.

In the portals of the City Conservator’s Office, poets gathered to talk about poetry. Neither the threat of a rain that barely reached the cobblestones of the foundational site of the city, nor the warm temperatures, nor the possibility of being welcomed by a house in darkness, prevented the meeting, which was also attended by Alpidio Alonso, Minister of Culture and Osbel Marrero Acosta, provincial director of Culture in Matanzas.

It was enough to listen to the words of the Cuban poet Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, who lives in the United States, to know what these people who paid his ticket to be part of the celebration of the International Poetry Festival of the city of Matanzas are made of.

The conviction that his words give off attests to the exquisiteness of a thought in which «poetry ceases to be a literary genre to reach another dimension.

«Poetry is a bridge. There are many types of poets, but they are divided into two large groups: those who are interested in their poetry and others who are interested in poetry. Today we are joined by poets from the second group, those who are concerned that poetry advances, that it spreads and that it reaches where it should. Poetry has helped me to live and that is its essential function.

«Since we have been human, since we have been conscious, poetry has existed. Poetry is resistance, it has offered people tools to face adversity. That essentially revolutionary role is what keeps it alive and will keep it alive.»

Central moments were the presentations of two books that, from different realities, address the harsh circumstances surrounding their authors.

The presentation of Ruta 2, by the Argentinean nationalized Chilean Daniel Calabrese, according to Rodríguez Núñez, one of the best contemporary poetic voices in the Hispanic world today, by the poet and essayist Derbys Domínguez.

«Daniel Calabrese writes without writing, or to put it in a more literary way, he seems to write as if he were not writing. His directing, clear, naked or unadjectivated poems surprise and can even frighten thanks to the complex simplicity that the author achieves, to his skill to say without saying or better, without saying.

«Thus he delivers poems that on more than one occasion could be atrocious, merciless. They address the implicit horror of everyday life at the risk of entering the world of anti-poetry and the poet fearlessly moves forward. Ruta 2 is the literary representation of a vehicle called poetry».

Poet and editor Maylan Alvarez was in charge of the presentation of A word against, by Palestinian writer Najwan Darwish. «A little over a year ago Zaldívar threatened us that such poetry, written by a Palestinian would be part of the Matancera publishing family,» she said.

«Today A Word Against belongs to us already because shared pain touches less, but poetry is the exception to every rule and shared poetry becomes more. This is a poetry of loss, of banishments all, where tragedy is a leimotiv that repeats itself.

«Najwan Darwish does not want death to become a daily assimilable fact, he does not want people to forget and he wields poetry, fires the verses and stokes the fire of each word. Here we are already reading him to be the spokesmen of his story which is the history of a land without land that refuses to stop being a country».

Puentes Poéticos, International Poetry Festival of the city of Matanzas will continue this morning with poetry readings in different parts of the city, including the university, the José Luis Dubroq pre-university, the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the Vocational School, the Faustino Pérez Hospital, the Gener and Del Monte libraries, the Fire Department and the provincial Terminal.

In the afternoon there will be a translation workshop by the American intellectual Katerine Hedeen, at the Casa de la Memoria Escénica; readings by guest poets published by Ediciones Vigía and La hora de Aldabón; and in the evening a meeting between members of the Hermanos Saíz Association and the Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish.

…ONLINE AUDIO

Written by Jessica Mesa.