Hello readers! Every week, BOA's staff and interns share a special poem from our over 300 collections of poetry. This week's poem is from Praises & Offenses: Three Women Poets from the Dominican Republic, translated by Judith Kerman.

To Go Lightly

by Ángela Hernández Núñez

In innocence, eternity is possible.

But I have loved in haste,
with the attentiveness of objects that fly away.
I find myself saying, close the doors.
I find myself saying, love you ought to leave.
I find myself touching lines in the stone.

I think about the women who waited,
not for Ulysses, but for ordinary men.
Those who laid siege to cities,
beyond the great width
of their own hearts.

I have loved after and during the storm.
I carry a burden of light:
it turns the air to ashes.

Andar Ligero

En la inocencia, la eternidad posible.

Pero he amado aprisa,
con la atención de objetos que se fugan.
Me hallo diciendo, cerrad las puertas.
Me hallo diciendo, amor deberás irte.
Me hallo tocando líneas en las piedras.

Pienso en las mujeres que esperaron,
no Ulises, sino hombres corrientes.
Aquellos que asediaron ciudades,
tras la forma inabarcable
de sus propios corazones.

He amado después y en la tormenta.
Llevo una carga de luz:
hace ceniza el aire.