Blanca Strepponi

Born 1952 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  In the mid '70s settled in Caracas, where she works in publishing.  Playwright and short-story writer as well as poet.  Director of UN Libroas, Editorial CEC, Los Libros El Nacional. Poetry collections: Poemas Visibles, 1988; Diario de John Roberton, 1990; El Jardín del Verdugo, 1993. Las vacas, 1995; Balada de la revelación; 2004. She projects a contemporary awareness of destruction in horrifyingly matter-of-fact poems on historical subjects.

Spanish Text

LETTER FROM ARNAUD AMALRIC TO THE POPE (BEZIERS, 1209)

Thanks to our cunning
and the inexperience
of the people under siege
on the 22nd of July
we succeeded in entering Béziers.

They resisted as long as they could
I have to admit
hapless and wretched
they took refuge in the churches

The mercenaries asked me
- Abbot, how are we to distinguish
Cathars from Catholics
And I answered
- Kill them all
God will recognize his own

Our men
well tried
in the rigors of impiety
without regard to sex
age or rank
put to the sword
twenty thousand people

After this merciless
slaughter of the enemy
the whole city
was sacked
and burnt

God's revenge
has been admirable

 

the murderer is resting
beside the woman he loves

a vague rumble shakes his chest
a muted, hidden engine

the night light draws
red lines on the bed

he whispers in the depths of his soul
I'm alone in the world
do you love me?

nothing happens

only the beating of frozen blood
only the noise of the old engine

 


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