Winner of the 49th Ciudad de Burgos Prize, this collection of poems is an exultant ode to life, indeed, but also a wounded awareness of its brisk passage and, above all, a steadfast commitment to what lies ahead. Faithful to its tradition, that of our classical writers, the author extends a knowing hand to the reader and invites them to sit together and observe the things of life.
At Zenda we present five poems from The Life Ahead (Visor), by Daniel Fernández.
***
CHRISTMAS EVE
To Basilisa Rubio Vargas
For me, the point was
to recapture Christmas,
whether the jingle of bells in the snow
or that Lego castle.
The 24th was here
and you came weary-eyed,
ready for yet another winter.
In the living room carols rang out
(Bells of Bethlehem…),
and the news from Israel and Gaza
(… What news do you bring me?)
burned in my fingertips.
That was when, grandmother,
you whispered something softly:
“I only know what I knew.”
***
LOVE’S PRISON IN THE AGE OF THE POSTDOC
(De vita philologica)
Your things, spread around the house:
the Friday boots, the irony,
the Minnie pajamas, the Odyssey
with your favorite illustrations.
You, on a plane again headed to Rome,
ready to devote all your days
(mind you, I’m getting jealous of Don Pedro…)
to Clarín, Segismundo, and company.
And I — “Come back, corsair, and close
this horrible Byzantine novel,
which — if I spell it out, perhaps you’ll finally understand —
you carry my soul captive.”
***
OHUHU 120-COLOR MARKER SET
Seated on the balcony,
I see you on the other side of the glass.
I look at you, or rather
(that is, to see, I always see you: it’s written on my soul…),
while you paint
with your favorite markers,
and I think how lucky we are
—now that life is going its own way,
the way that it does, which is to pass—
to have you here, so focused,
to have you with me,
and you come and paint the afternoon in colors
and a cloud that laughs while it rains
and Doña Snail (col, col, you hum it…),
who comes out to boast
of a complexion enviably olive green,
when, suddenly, you lift your gaze and blush,
as if you believed you were alone in that universe you give life to.
***
ENGLISH HIDEOUT
How I wish I were a poplar.
A tall, old, elegant poplar,
with wind in its branches and birds in the boughs.
Tall and solitary in the valley,
shading my kin (the brook, the grass,
the fading lights),
always gazing at the same horizon,
at the cliff that waits unhurriedly,
and perhaps at this child who approaches,
sets hands on my trunk and
one, two, three, now:
time halts in this afternoon
and only my leaves feel the air.
***
THE OLD THEME OF THE ROSE
A glimpse of human architecture.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
To describe, for example, certain things:
that the blushing red of sunset
knows a blue summer when scented
you lead me after your steps.
But how to write about you, rose
that I do not hold in my hands,
without recalling those others,
barely symbols of the past.
Thus also you in the end:
no more than trembling
syllables on the white
of a page.
—————————————
Author: Daniel Fernández. Title: The Life Ahead. Publisher: Visor. Sales: All his books.
BIO
Daniel Fernández Rodríguez (Barcelona, 1988) is the author of Las nubes se levantan (2022, Emilio Prados Prize) and Las cosas en su sitio (2018, Antonio Colinas Prize). A Doctor of Spanish Philology, Daniel Fernández teaches at the University of Valencia, where he lectures on Golden Age literature.