3

His old friends are bitter
that despite the ups
and downs of life
he has never abandoned
the adventure of being
a poet who writes.
They find it peculiar
he doesn’t live in wards
or hasn’t died in jails
and they miss him.
They're all winners
in prestige and gold.
What is it about poetry
that incites a kind of avarice.
The doctors and sad
businessmen bite the deaf anger
of feeling anonymous
blind to themselves
and to the uncharted world
of spirit.
I take pleasure in knowing
they envy me.

Poem by Raúl Gómez Jattin

Translated by Jaime Manrique and Dean Kostos
Published In BOMB Magazine