ON THE ISLAND

 

And so came

the days

when I sat

before you,​

your name

amidst the screams

of the seagulls.

I saw

your countenance

I listened to

your murmur,

and, then,

the thunderclap

your skin

against the rain.

But I never

what you were saying,

deep sea,

the waves.

“En la isla” Papeles de Son Armadans, 1959

Translated by Núria Cohen.

(Barcelona, 1928 – 1999). José Agustín Goytisolo was a poet. His childhood was marred by the death of his mother, Julia Gay, in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, as was the loss very much felt by his siblings. He studied in Barcelona and Madrid where he met authors and fellow students who belonged to the same generation. He translated Italian poetry, but especially Catalan poets. His first book of poems, El retorno (1955) was followed by others including Claridad (1960), Algo sucede (1968) or Las horas quemadas (1996), which was to be his last work. In 1959 he attended the Poetic Conversations in Formentor and he collaborated with Papeles de Son Armadans.