Three Poems By Pablo Neruda | Tres poemas de Pablo Neruda

By Pablo Neruda, with English translations by Donald D. Walsh: The Mountain and the River, Poverty, Little America, from the collection The Captain’s Verses (Los Versos del Capitan). New Directions Publishing, bilingual edition, 1988. Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is regarded as one of the greatest poets to have ever lived. (English | Spanish)

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Frederico Garcia Lorca: ‘On Lullabies’

By Frederico Garcia Lorca | Translation by A. S. Kline | Paintings by Gabriel Alix | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Frederico Garcia Lorca describes the lullabies of Spain in their cultural contexts and with a singular respect for children’s appreciation of abstraction. One lullaby from the region of Burgos is reminiscent of Haiti’s “Dodo Titit.”

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A Poem by Michael Leunig: Spring Diary of a Small, Brown Bird

By Michael Leunig, Spring Diary of a Small, Brown Bird | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The poem below is a favorite of mine and the only one I’ve found so far that describes falling in love entirely from the point of view of an animal. From a collection by Leunig titled: Short Notes from the Long History of Happiness (Penguin Books Australia, Ltd, 1996).

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Three Poems By Rene Depestre | Trois poèmes de René Depestre

By Rene Depestre. The Poet, The Final Degree of Exile, Consciences in Bloom: three offerings from the poetry collection In a State of Poetry (En Etat de Poesie, Les Editeurs Francais Reunis, Paris, 1980). (French, with English | French bio)

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Poem From My Mother | Poème de ma mère

“Le baiser d’une mère” | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Before I could speak or even breathe, my mother, with a broad smile, read this poem to me. I copy it here from a version she wrote from memory. Based on the style, some of the phrases, and her fondness for Oswald Durand, I think it is his. (French | English)

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Prayer to Masks: a Poem by Leopold Sedhar Senghor | Prière aux masques : Un poème de Leopold Sedhar Senghor | Oración a las máscaras : Un poema de Leopold Sedhar Senghor

Leopold Senghor was a Senegalese poet and statesman who served as his country’s first president from 1960 to 1980. (English | French | Spanish)

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The Poetry of Tomas Transtroemer

Peter Vinthagen Simpson and staff, The Local. Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, who was on Thursday named the 2011 Nobel Literature Prize laureate, has published a relatively small body of work, often addressing themes of death, history and nature. Here is an English translation of a short poem entitled “National Insecurity,” followed by a brief bibliography.

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