LOS MEJORES AMIGOS - ISABEL BONO (In English below)
Tengo amigos
a los que nunca he preguntado nada,
de los que me gustaría
conocer cada minuto de su infancia
a qué jugaban
si les dolía perder
si se arrancaban las costras de las heridas
si sentían miedo
si ya lo perdieron
pero yo no pregunto
me gustaría haber estado allí
en cada infancia de cada amigo,
haber sudado con ellos
eso ya no es posible
como no lo será sudar sus muertes
mis amigos morirán lejos
y yo no sabré a quién preguntar
The Best Friends – Isabel Bono
I have friends
to whom I have never asked anything
friends I would like to know
about every minute of their childhood
what did they play
did it hurt them to lose
did they scratch off their scabs
where they afraid
or no longer afraid
but I don’t ask
I would have liked to have been there.
In each of my friends’childhoods
to have sweated with them
that is no longer possible
as it will not to sweat their deaths
my friends will die far away
and I will no longer know whom to ask.
My translation
The above poem by a Spanish poet born in Málaga in1964 is of a poet I did not know anything about except that the above poem appeared in m Twitter/X feed. Their algorithm is right on the money for my literary tastes.