Masi

Masi

by Ignacio B. Anzoátegui (Argentine poet 1905-1978)

Translated from the Spanish by Roberto Hope (revised Aug 24, 2018)

What will become of me after you die?
what will be left of me when you are gone?
who shall I hug when the deep sorrow
shall transit the empty caverns of my soul?

I will know not then if the matter
is something real, or painted solitude,
if it's only a dream or a dark cloud 
what will remain, my love, when you are gone.

Left in an hourglass, the time will stay,
and a valise with all my water verses
and the paintings I made, in truth
only because with me, my love, you were.

And what part of me shall go with you
in so lasting a journey of the soul?
What weapons will the arsenals provide
for me to overcome my circumstance?

If you being here, struggling we two together,
my inmost being is haunted by these shadows,
what will become of me after you die?
what will be left of me when you are gone?