si

Si el poeta eres tú

(Pablo Milanés)

Sí el poeta eres tú
–como dijo el poeta–,*
y el que ha tumbado estrellas
en mil noches
de lluvias coloridas eres tú,
¿qué tengo yo que hablarte, Comandante?

Si el que asomó al futuro su perfil
y lo estrenó con voces de fusil
fuiste tú, guerrero para siempre, tiempo eterno,
¿qué puedo yo cantarte, Comandante?

En vano busco en mi guitarra tu dolor
y en mi jardín ya todo es bello, no hay temor,
¿qué puedo yo dejarte, Comandante,
que no sea cambiar mi guitarra por tu suerte,
o negarle una canción al sol,
o morir sin amor?

¿Qué tengo yo que hablarte, Comandante,
si el poeta eres tú?
–como dijo el poeta–,
y el que ha tumbado estrellas
en mil noches de lluvias coloridas eres tú,
¿qué tengo yo que hablarte, Comandante?


* Alusión al poeta y escritor cubano Miguel Barnet que en su poema “Che” (1967) dice “No es que yo quiera darte / pluma por pistola / pero el poeta eres tú.”.

subtle shades

Pity, sympathy and compassion are grossly synonymous and all are in good standing as virtuous words. They have shades of meaning, however, which, while subtle from the linguistic standpoint, are profoundly significant from the psychological. The dictionary distinguishes them as follows:
---
Pity:
Sympathy:
Compassion:
....
These words, all expressive of attitudes towards the suffering of others, are graded in terms of actual participation in, or closeness to, or identification with, such sufferings.

Paris-Roubaix 2010

Sat 4/10, rode 9hrs(inc stops and getting a bit lost in Roubaix late night) from Highgate to St. Pancras rail stn, London, train to Dover Priory, rode to Dover-Dunkerque ferry, rode Dunkerque-Tournai, the Belges love their frites everywhere, and there's potatoes all along the road, like crumbs on a forest trail, my rusty French came in handy, shame i don't know any Flemish, asking the way to go on various occasions, dodgy, regrettable kebab;

Sun 4/11, rather tired, rode around for 2-3hrs watching Paris-Roubaix Race, the Queen of the Classics, the Hell of The North, hung around Le Carrefour de L'Arbre and a cafe at Cysoing, fantastic, but also wicked, I mean wicked runs, disturbing dream, sleepless;
Mon 4/12, aching,rode 8hrs aching Tournai-Lille-Dunkerque,etc, excruciating knee pain, barely able to turn the pedals, panic-stricken release of gas, finally, delirious 20min ride UP to Highgate magnificent high, ooold, fascinating dream, Vela

Fabian "Spartacus" Cancellara, flying along, leaving the opposition in his dust

Fabian "Spartacus" Cancellara, flying along, leaving the opposition in his dust



the Belgian bike fans, still not that drunk, shudda seen them later

"thursday"

wrote mr kipling