"Deserts", from "Purgatorio"

Author(s): Ral Zurita and Jeremy Jacobson

Source: Latin American Literary Review, Vol. 11, No. 23 (Fall - Winter, 1983), pp. 85-97
Published by: Latin American Literary Review
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?DESERTS?, FROM PURGATORIO

BY
RAUL ZURITA
TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION BY JEREMY JACOBSON

Ra?l Zurita was born in Santiago, Chile in 1951. He studied engineer

for a time and, since then, has just
ing for five years, sold typewriters
a
to
film course here and there, the odd
video
survive:
managed
teaching
on a unified,
he
been
Since
1970
has
structured work, two
grant.
working
Editorial Universitaria,
parts of which have been published: Purgatorio,
1979 and Antepara?so,
1982.
Ediciones Mario Fonseca, Santiago,
Santiago,
He has also been published
in the magazines
Cal, Posdata and Trilce and in
cluded in the anthologies
1980 and Nueva An
6, Santiago,
Ganymedes
[New Anthology
tolog?a de Poes?a Castellana,
of Spanish and Spanish
American Poetry],
Editorial Universitaria,
1981.
The one constant in Zurita's life is his writing, which says a lot, because
he considers his art a vital process of which he is part. He likes to quote St.
of the crucified god refutes all human wisdom,
Paul on how the madness
and inPurgatorio
there is the phrase ?la locura de mi trabajo? (the madness
of my work). Zurita's work is a human Passion.
It takes on the suffering of
man in the poem and in his life. Once, near madness,
Zurita burnt his cheek
with acid, an act which has attracted a certain scandalous notoriety,
but in
is poet, female prostitute,
the poetic voice, which
saint and
Purgatorio
me quem?
superstar, says: ?Mis amigos dicen que /estoy muy mala/porque
I
las mejillas?
off
friends
burnt
head/because
my cheek).
my
(My
say/I'm
The poem also includes the poet's I.D. picture and a psychiatric
report. His
madness
is the madness
of his work.
His work is not just written on the page either. In 1979 he co-founded
Colectivo
de Acciones
de Arte (Art Action Collective).
This group has car
ried out various projects,
the best known of which is ?Para no morir de
hambre en el arte? (So as not to die of hunger in art). The action takes place
in the streets of the city; art intervenes and acts upon our daily experience.
In Antepara?so
the page takes the action back into the world, for the poem
is organized around fifteen phrases written in Spanish over the sky of New
York inMay
1982. And the words will go out again when Zurita writes in
on the skies of Tokyo, Berlin and
different
languages,
including Quechua,
other cities.
why not Infierno and Para?so?
Purgatorio?Antepara?so:
Perhaps
because they would be too much death and life for us. And yet our worst
dread and fondest hope underlie all his work. They are part of its am
the ambivalence
of a poet who declares himself an atheist but
bivalence,
who structures his art around religious metaphors
and religious essence.
Ra?l Zurita would be a blasphemous
if he
saint if he were not so human,

85

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Literary Review

86 Latin American
were not just one worker more, as he calls himself,
bivalence direction,
together with others.

trying

to give his am

la mejilla quemada
Entonces,
aplastando
contra los ?speros granos de este suelo pedregoso
?como

un

buen

sudamericano?

alc? por un minuto m?s mi cara hacia el cielo

llorando
porque yo cre? en la felicidad,
estrellas.
hab?a vuelto a ver de nuevo las irredarg?ibles
Then, flattening my burnt cheek
against the rough grit of this stony ground
a good South American?
?like
I raised my face for one minute more towards
crying
because I believed in happiness,
I had seen once again the irrefutable

the sky

stars.

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Purgatorio,

Translated

by Jeremy

Jacobson

87

COMO UN SUE?O
Claro: este es el Desierto
buena cosa no
de Atacama
val?a ni tres chauchas llegar
all? y no has visto el
Desierto de Atacama ?oye:
lo viste all? cierto? bueno
si no lo has visto anda de
una vez y no me jodas

LAPSUS Y ENGA?OS SE LLAMAN MI PROPIA MENTE EL

DESIERTO DE CHILE

LIKE A DREAM
Of course, this is the Atacama
a nice thing indeed it
Desert
didn't cost you twopence to get
there and you haven't seen the
Atacama Desert ?
hey, you did
see it there, didn't you? well
if you haven't seen it go on
once and for all and get off my back

MY OWN MIND IS CALLED LAPSUS AND DECEIT THE

CHILEAN DESERT

COMO UN SUE?O
Mira
Atacama

qu? cosa:
son

el Desierto

puras

de

manchas

sab?as? claro pero no te

costaba nada mirarte un poco
tambi?n a t?mismo y decir:
Anda yo tambi?n soy una buena
lindo no
mancha Cristo ?oye
has visto tus pecados? bien
pero entonces d?jalo mejor
encumbrarse
por esos cielos
como en tus sue?os
manchado

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88 Latin American

Literary Review

COMO ESPEJISMOS Y AURAS EL INRI ES MI MENTE EL

DESIERTO DE CHILE

LIKE A DREAM
Look at it, the Atacama
Desert is nothing but stains
sure you did but
did you know?
to look
it didn't cost you anything
at yourself a little too and say:
So what I'm also a good Christ
stain ?
hey, gorgeous haven't you
gone through your sins? all
right in that case just let it
soar through those skies
like in your dreams
stained

LIKE MIRAGES AND AURAS THE INRI ISMY MIND THE

CHILEAN DESERT

COMO UN SUE?O
Vamos: no quisiste saber nada de
ese Desierto maldito ?te
dio
miedo
yo s? que te dio miedo
cuando supiste que se hab?a
internado por esas cochinas
pampas

?claro

no

quisiste

saber nada pero se te volaron

los colores de la cara y bueno
dime: te cre?as que era poca
cosa enfilarse por all? para
volver despu?s de su propio
nunca dado vuelta
extendido
como una llanura frente a nosotros

YO USTED Y LA NUNCA SOY LA VERDE PAMPA EL

DESIERTO DE CHILE
LIKE A DREAM
Let's

face

it, you didn't want

to know

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Purgatorio,

Translated

by Jeremy

Jacobson

89

you
anything about that damned Desert?
were scared I know you were scared
when you found out that it had made
its way into those filthy
?
sure you didn't want to
pampas
know anything but you went white and
well tell me, did you really think it
was nothing to head straight there
and then to come back from your own
never
turned inside out stretching
like a prairie in front of us

YOU ME AND THE NEVER IAM THE GREEN PAMPA THE

CHILEAN DESERT

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA
THE ATACAMA DESERT
QUIEN PODR?A LA ENORME DIGNIDAD DEL
DESIERTO DE ATACAMA COMO UN PAJARO
SE ELEVA SOBRE LOS CIELOS APENAS
EMPUJADO POR EL VIENTO
WHO COULD THE VAST DIGNITY OF THE
ATACAMA DESERT LIKE A BIRD
IT RISES ABOVE THE SKIES BARELY
NUDGED BY THE WIND

I
A LAS INMACULADAS LLANURAS
i. Dejemos

pasar

el infinito

ii. Dejemos

pasar

la esterilidad

del Desierto

de Atacama

de estos desiertos

Para que desde las piernas abiertas de mi madre se

levante una Plegaria que se cruce con el infinito del
Desierto
de Atacama
y mi madre no sea entonces sino
un punto de encuentro en el camino

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Latin American

90
ser? entonces
iii. Yo mismo
en el camino

una Plegaria

ser? las piernas

iv. Yo mismo

abiertas

Literary

Review

encontrada

de mi madre

que cuando vean alzarse ante sus ojos los desolados

de Atacama mi madre se concentre
paisajes del Desierto
en gotas de agua y sea la primera lluvia en el desierto

Para

v. Entonces

veremos
desde

vi. Dado vuelta

de mi madre
vii. Entonces

el Infinito

aparecer
s?mismo

del Desierto

hasta dar con

las piernas

se abrir?
sobre el vac?o del mundo
el verdor infinito del Desierto

de

completamente
Atacama

TO THE IMMACULATE PRAIRIES

i. Let's

allow

in the infinity

of the Atacama

ii. Let's

allow

in the sterility

of these deserts

Desert

So that from my mother's

parted legs a Supplication
may rise and cross with the infinity of the Atacama
Desert and my mother become no more than a meeting
point on the road
iii. And
iv. And

I will

then be a Supplication

I too will be my mother's

met with
parted

on the road

legs

So that when you see rise up before your eyes the

desolate
landscape of the Atacama Desert my mother
will become drops of water and be the first rain
in the desert
v. Then

shall we

see appear

the Infinity

of the Desert

inside out upon itself until coming

vi. Turned
with my mother's
parted legs

together

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Purgatorio,

Translated

by Jeremy

Jacobson

91

over the world's

vii. Then
there will open
emptiness
the
infinite greenness of the Atacama Desert
up

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA II
Helo

all?

suspendido
El Desierto
i. Suspendido
entre

Helo
all?
en el aire
de Atacama

sobre el cielo de Chile

diluy?ndose

auras

esta vida y la otra en el mismo

ii. Convirtiendo
en el
Desierto
de Atacama
?urico perdi?ndose
aire
iii. Hasta que finalmente no haya cielo sino Desierto
de Atacama
y todos veamos entonces nuestras propias
en
fosforescentes
pampas
carajas encumbr?ndose
el horizonte

THE ATACAMA DESERT II

There

it is

in
hanging
The
Atacama
i. Hanging
ii. Turning
Atacama

over

the Chilean

There it is
the
air
Desert
sky

fading

this life and the beyond

Desert
ethereal melting

in the breeze

into the selfsame

away in the air

iii. Until finally there is no sky but only Atacama

Desert and then we may all see our own
damn them soaring
pampas
phosphorescent
on the horizon

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA III

i. Los desiertos

de atacama

son azules

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92 Latin American
ii. Los desiertos de atacama
lo que quieras

no son azules

Literary Review

ya ya dime

iii. Los desiertos de atacama no son azules porque por

all? no vol? el esp?ritu de J. Cristo que era un perdido
iv. Y si los desiertos de atacama fueran azules todav?a
podr?an ser el Oasis Chileno para que desde todos
contentos viesen flamear por
los rincones de Chile
de Atacama
el aire las azules pampas del Desierto

THE ATACAMA DESERT III

i. The atacama

deserts

are blue

ii. The atacama deserts are not blue

tell me whatever
you want

all right you can

iii. The atacama deserts are not blue because the spirit of
J. Christ that lost soul didn't fly thereabouts
iv. And if the atacama deserts were still blue they could
be the Chilean Oasis so that from all the corners of
Chile the people might joyfully see flaring through
Desert
the air the blue pampas of the Atacama

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA IV
i. El Desierto

de Atacama

ii. Miren a esas ovejas

desierto
iii. Miren
pampas

a sus mismos

son puros

correr

sue?os

sobre

pastizales
los pastizales

del

balar all? sobre esas

infinitas

iv. Y si no se escucha a las ovejas balar en el Desierto

somos entonces
nosotros
los pastizales
de Atacama
en todo el mundo
de Chile para que en todo el espacio
se escuche ahora el balar de nuestras
en toda la patria
desiertos miserables
propias almas sobre esos desolados

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Purgatorio,

Translated

by Jeremy

Jacobson

93

THE ATACAMA DESERT IV

i. The Atacama
ii. Look

Desert

at those

is all pastures

sheep skipping

iii. Look at your own dreams

endless pampas

over

bleating

the desert pastures

there over

those

iv. And if the sheep cannot be heard bleating

in
the Atacama Desert then we are the pastures of
Chile so that in all space in all the world
in all the land our own souls can be heard
desolate deserts
bleating over those miserable

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA V
Di t? del silbar de Atacama
el viento borra como nieve
el color de esa llanura
i. El Desierto
de Atacama
desiertos para estar all?
ii. Como
follaje

el viento si?ntanlo
de los ?rboles

iii. M?renlo
transparentarse
por el viento

sobrevol?

silbando

all?

lejos

infinidades

pasar

de

entre el

y s?lo acompa?ado

iv. Pero cuidado: porque si al final el Desierto

de
no estuviese donde debiera estar el mundo
Atacama
entero comenzar?a a silbar entre el follaje de los
?rboles
y nosotros nos ver?amos entonces en el
nunca
en el
mism?simo
silbantes
transparentes
el color de esta pampa
viento trag?ndonos

THE ATACAMA DESERT V

You tell of the whistling of Atacama
the wind blots out like snow
the colour of that prairie

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94

Latin American
i. The Atacama
to be there
ii. Feel

Desert

it like the wind

of the trees

flew over

Literary

innumerable

pass whistling

through

Review

deserts

the

foliage

at it shine through
joined by the wind only

iii. Look

far off over

there

and

iv. But watch out, because if in the end the Atacama

Desert were not where it should be
the whole
world would begin to whistle
through the foliage
of the trees
and we would then see ourselves
in
the very same never
transparent
whistling
swallowing up in the wind the colour of this pampa

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA VI
No sue?en las ?ridas llanuras
Nadie ha podido ver nunca
Esas pampas quim?ricas
i. Los paisajes son convergentes
Desierto
de Atacama

y divergentes

en el

ii. Sobre los paisajes convergentes

y divergentes Chile
es convergente
en el Desierto
de Atacama
y divergente
eso lo que est? all? nunca estuvo all? y si ese
siguiese donde est? ver?a darse vuelta su propia vida
hasta ser las quim?ricas
llanuras des?rticas
como ellos
iluminadas
esfum?ndose

iii. Por

los paisajes
vengan a desplegarse
del Desierto
de Atacama
y divergentes
convergentes
Chile entero habr? sido el m?s all? de la vida porque
a cambio de Atacama
como
ya se est?n extendiendo
un sue?o los desiertos de nuestra propia quimera
all? en estos llanos del demonio

iv. Y cuando

THE ATACAMA DESERT VI

Do not dream

the arid prairies

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Purgatorio,

Translated

by Jacobson

95

No one could ever see

Those unreal pampas
i. The landscapes are converging
Atacama Desert

and diverging

in the

the converging and diverging

ii. Above
landscapes Chile
in the Atacama Desert
is converging
and diverging
is why what is there was never there and if he
stayed in the same place he would see his own life
turn inside out until becoming
the illusory prairies
lit up vanishing
like them
deserted

iii. That

iv. And when the converging

and diverging
landscapes of
the Atacama Desert come to unfold all Chile will
have been the hereafter for in exchange for Atacama
our own feverish deserts are already stretching out
like a dream there over those hellish plains

VII
PARA ATACAMA DEL DESIERTO
i. Miremos
ii. Miremos

entonces
nuestra

el Desierto
soledad

de Atacama

en el desierto

frente a estas fachas el paisaje devenga

Para que desolado
una cruz extendida
sobre Chile y la soledad de mi facha
vea entonces el redimirse de las otras fachas: Mi propia
en el Desierto
Redenci?n
iii. Qui?n
iv. Qui?n

dir?a entonces

del redimirse

hablar?a de la soledad

de mi

facha

del desierto

Para que mi facha comience a tocar tu facha y tu facha

a esa otra facha y as? hasta que todo Chile no sea sino
una sola facha con los brazos abiertos: una larga facha
coronada de espinas
v. Entonces
la Cruz no ser? sino el abrirse de brazos
de mi facha

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96 Latin American
seremos
vi. Nosotros
del Desierto

entonces

la Corona

Literary

Review

de Espinas

vii. Entonces
clavados facha con facha como un Cruz
extendida
sobre Chile
habremos visto para siempre
de Atacama
el Solitario Expirar del Desierto

VII
FOR ATACAMA OF THE DESERT
i. Let us look then at the Atacama
ii. Let us look at our

loneliness

Desert

in the desert

So that desolate before these shadows the landscape becomes

a cross stretched out over Chile and the loneliness of my
shadow then sees the redeeming of the other shadows: My own
in the Desert
Redemption
iii. Who

would

then credit

the redeeming

iv. Who

would

speak of the desert's

of my

shadow

loneliness

So that my shadow begins to touch your shadow and your

shadow that other shadow and so on until all Chile is just
one shadow with open arms: one long shadow crowned with
thorns
v. Then

the Cross will be merely

my

shadow

opening

its

arms

vi. We

will

then be the Desert's

Crown

of Thorns

vii. Then
nailed shadow to shadow
like a Cross
we will have seen for ever
stretched out over Chile
the Solitary Expiring of the Atacama
Desert

EPILOGO
COMO UN SUE?O EL SILBIDO DEL VIENTO
TODAV?A RECORRE EL ?RIDO ESPACIO DE
ESAS LLANURAS

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Purgatorio,

Translated

by Jeremy

Jacobson

EPILOGUE
LIKE A DREAM THE WHISTLING OF THE WIND
STILL ECHOES THROUGH THE ARID REALM OF
THOSE PRAIRIES

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97