Laura Ymayo Tartakoff. Born in Cuba, she has lived in Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Switzerland, and the United States. She is a Senior Instructor of Political Science at CWRU. Her poems have appeared in Burnt Sugar/Caña Quemada, Lori Marie Carlson & Oscar Hijuelos (Eds.) and in Antología de la poesía cubana del exilio, Odette Alonso (Ed.). She is author of Mujer Martes; Entero Lugar; Íntimo Color; and Inventario, and editor of Con todos y para el bien de todos: el pensamiento político y social de José Martí and of Poetry and Politics: Selected Poems of Heberto Padilla. Her new bilingual book of poems, Angels and Fish: Myths and Mystery was recently published in Spain. It evokes in both English and Spanish the mystery of poetry and touches on memory and longing, regret and celebration, addressing what one in silence carries within. LYT has published articles on law, democracy, and culture in Chile, Hungary, Costa Rica, Perú, Venezuela, Switzerland, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay.
Poem
RESILIENCIA
A pesar de la nieve
los pájaros cantan,
amigo.
Al volar, cantar o posarse,
no importa dónde ni cuándo,
te traen consigo.
Nada me turba ni acobarda.
Huérfana dejé de ser.
Paso a paso
muy despacio
bailo.
Con lágrimas, rocío,
y madreselva,
cobran vida
los huesos.
La música es
a veces
silencio.
RESILIENCE
Even under snow,
birds sing,
my friend.
When they sing, fly, perch,
no matter where or when,
they bring you with them.
Nothing disturbs or frightens me.
No longer am I an orphan.
Step by step
very slowly
I dance.
Tears, dew,
and honeysuckle
bring bones to life.
Music is
silence sometimes.