The art of swimming
Has a human, dedicated
Character.
Each activity, the flowering,
Settles on a certain ability.
The ones called “enchantment”
Consist of the reality
of magic.
—Translated from the Spanish by Susan Thomsen
*****
El arte de nadar
Tiene un carácter
Humano, dedicado.
Cada actividad, el florecimiento
Se posa en una cierta habilidad
Las llamadas «encantamiento»
Consisten en la realidad
de mágica.
Source: Diccionario del Uso del Español A-H, by María Moliner. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, Segunda Edición, 1998.
*****
This erasure poem (original version included, below) grew out of choosing "art" as my word for 2024. Once I picked that, my plans gained some focus, and I decided to consult one of my Spanish dictionaries. The phrase "el arte de nadar" ("the art of swimming") in the entry for "arte" surprised me, and let me know I was on the right track, er, in the right lane. I love swimming! Everything else followed, and it felt very productive to sharpen pencils, underline stuff, and use the copier. Plus also, markers! After selecting the Spanish words I wanted, I arranged them into lines and breaks, and then translated that into English. The poem/s endured a number of iterations and revisions (and tweaks for agreement). If I had more time, I'd redo the visual presentation (seen below), maybe get out some Liquid Paper and white-out to my heart's content.
In the image, the "artar" and "art déco" entries are just window dressing; they have nothing to do with the poem itself.
For additional information on erasure/blackout poems, I suggest Erin Dorney's "6 Styles of Erasure Poetry" at Trish Hopkinson's blog.
The Poetry Friday roundup for January 5th is at Marcie Flinchum Atkins' place. I hope that one day Marcie will write a book about writing poetry because she has all kinds of good ideas and approaches to the matter.
