Dostoyevsky's VoiceDostoyevsky brings me back to life.He pops up everywhere - waving the flag, urging me on.How he does it, I don't know.From time to time, I hear his voicebut when I look around, he turns away.He is reaching for his penamid the frozen steppes, his winter sheetsthe tree-lined streets of St. Petersburg.Then he is silent, intent, all ears:as if, out of his wintry depths he hears me t ...
Dostoyevsky's Voice
Dostoyevsky brings me back to life.
He pops up everywhere -
waving the flag, urging me on.
How he does it, I don't know.
From time to time, I hear his voice
but when I look around, he turns away.
He is reaching for his pen
amid the frozen steppes, his winter sheets
the tree-lined streets of St. Petersburg.
Then he is silent, intent, all ears:
as if, out of his wintry depths
he hears me too, urging him on.
From time to time, I look out my window
but there are only waves, trees
a clocktower and some ships.
I see no sign of him but meet his voice
in the sounds of the street:
in the workers' talk, the factry whistle
and a ship's horn booming in from the deep.
La voz de Dostoyevsky
Dostoyevsky me devuelve la vida.
Se aparece por todas partes
agitando la bandera, incitándome.
¿De qué manera? No lo sé.
Algunas veces, escucho su voz
pero cuando lo busco, me evade.
Intenta coger su pluma
en medio de las estepas congeladas, sus sabanas de invierno,
las calles bordeadas de árboles de San Petersburgo.
Después se queda en silencio, absorto, todo oídos:
como si por fuera de de sus profundidades
me escuchara también, incitándolo.
Empero a veces miro por mi ventana
sólo hay olas , árboles,
la torre del reloj y algunos navíos.
No veo señal alguna de él pero encuentro su voz
en el sonido callejero:
en la voz de los trabajadores, el silbido de la fabrica
y de los navíos retumbando desde las profundidades.
The Mystic Way
for Latif Bolat
You do not have to owe me
to know me.
You do nothave to have me
to love me.
You do not have to see me
to be with me.
You do not have to hold me
to touch me.
You do not have to want me
to cherish me.
You do not have to silence me
to hear me.
You do not have to own me
to set me free.
You do not have to ask what
I want you to be.
You do not have to do anything.
I do not have to be anyone.
There is, simply, a greeting, a meeting:
The sky, the fields, the open door.
La Vía Mística
Para Latif Bolat
No tienes que deberme
para conocerme.
No tienes que tenerme
para amarme.
No tienes que verme
para estar conmigo.
No tienes que abrazarme
para tocarme.
No tienes que desearme
para acariciarme.
No tienes que callarme
para escucharme.
No tienes que poseerme
para dejarme libre.
No tienes que preguntarme qué
quiero que seas.
No tienes que hacer nada.
Yo no tengo que ser nadie.
Sólo hay un encuentro, un saludo:
El cielo, los campos, la puerta abierta.
Lines for a Kidnapped Poet*
for Orlando Betancur & his Family
In the long nights, in a cell alone
you know death in every bone.
It takes your breath away
even now, in the light of day.
But you are a poet. There is a world
in you which will not give up.
There are mountains, trees, sky;
flowers, birds and butterflies.
Even through your blindfold,
you still know how to reach them.
There are those riches still in you,
the hands of thieves will not undo.
A poet travels with a light
and sheds a little through each night.
The pen is loaded, the paper dry
the poet's will, wll never die!
*This poem was written for the Colombian poet, Orlando Betancur in May 2002 during the time of his captivity. The poem was broadcast in Spanish from a Colombian Radio station that was able to broadcast the poem into the area where Orlando Betancur was being held.
Líneas para un Poeta Secuestrado
Para Orlando Betancur y su familia
En las largas noches de una celda solitaria
encuentras a muerte en cada hueso
Cortando tu respiración
incluso ahora, a la luz del día.
¡Pero tú eres un poeta! Hay un mundo
en ti este no se rendirá.
Tiene montañas, árboles, cielos
flores, pájaros y mariposas
y aún a través de tus ojos vendados,
sabes cómo verlos.
Quedan aún esta riquezas en ti
las manos de los bandidos no las destruirán .
El poeta viaja con su luz
despojándose de ella a través de la noche.
La pluma está llena, el papel seco
¡La voluntad del poeta, nunca muere!
biografia:
RonaldRiddell
73Kamahi Street,
Stokes Valley, Wellington, 04 563 9020
Email:
rriddell@paradise.net.nz
Writer and peace-activist, Ron Riddell, is one of New Zealand's most widely published poets. An arts graduate of Auckland University, he worked for many years as a school teacher. In recent years, he has been travelling and working in Latin America. Riddell has performed in a number of countries, including Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and the U.S.A., where his latest book, the award-winning collection, Leaves of Light [like Spirit Songs and El Milagro de Medellin] was published in a bi-lingual edition [English and Spanish]. Riddell has performed his work in many festivals and cultural venues around the world, including The Edinburgh Festival [U.K.], Harbourfront [Canada], El Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellin [Colombia] and El Festival Internacional de Poesía de Cartagena [Colombia], The Austin International Poetry Festival [U.S.A.] and El Encuentro Internacional de Poetas [El Salvador].He has also been involved in a number of peace and cultural initiatives in Colombia, Chile, U.S.A., El Salvador and New Zealand. In Auckland Riddell founded The Titirangi Poets [1976] and in the 1990's established a haven for poets with the Live Poets' Café which adjoined the Dead Poets Bookshop in Karangahape Road. A painter, musician and the author of a number of plays and novels, he has published 16 collections of verse. At present, he lives in the New Zealand capital city, Wellington, where he is Director of The Wellington International Poetry Festival. In 2004 he was finalist in The Wellingtonian of the Year Awards. His latest verse collection, Raukura, is published by Casa de Poesia, San José, Costa Rica, 2006.
Titles published by Ron Riddell
. Beads, Parnassus Press, Auckland, 1975
. The Titirangi Poets, Vol. 1 & 3 [Editor], Outrigger Publishers, Hamilton, 1976; 1981
. Persephone, Outrigger Publishers, Hamilton, 1977
. Northern Light, Parnassus Press, Edinburgh, 1978
. Islnds, Parnassus Press, Edinburgh,1978
. Paths of Fight, Writer and Artists Press, Auckland, 1980
. The Christ Light, Solent Publishers, Auckland, 1983
. Sense of Being, Writers and Artists Press, Auckland, 1984
. Breathing Space, Coromandel Press, Coromandel, 1986
. Elegy for Barry Mitcalfe, Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Auckland, 1987
. How to Eat a Hot Dog on the Main Street of Thames, E.S.A.W., Auckland, 1990
. Michelangelo Dreams, Puriri Press, Auckland, 1997
. Love Songs for the Dead, Puriri Press, Auckland, 1998
. El Milagro de Medellin y otros poemas, Casa Nueva, Medellin, Colombia, 2002
. Anthology of the First Wellington International Poetry Festival, [Co-editor], HeadworX, Wellington, 2003
. Spirit Songs, Casa Nueva, Medellin/Steele Roberts, Wellington, 2004
. Anthology of the Second Wellington International Poetry Festival, [Co-editor], HeadworX, Wellington, 2004
. Leaves of Light, Caza de Poesia, Los Angeles, U.S.A., 2005.
. Anthology of the Third Welligton International Poetry Festival, [Co-editor], Wellington, 2005
. Raukura, Casa de Poesia, Costa Rica, 2006
rriddell@paradise.net.nz
English 
Spanish
