by Luis Benitez
English version by Araceli Lacore
Kodak of the mind
Polaroid of memory and sight
what departs
stays forever in dioramas of coagulated time
where old Daguerreotypes speak to each other
let’s place the word
let's make verbs with colors
nouns be the profiles
adjectives the shadows and highlights
pronouns be the men the women and the children
let history be their syntax
a frozen image
its mute spelling.
Luis Benítez was born in Buenos Aires on November 10, 1956. His 50 books of poetry, essays, and fiction have been published in Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, Mexico, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Venezuela, UK, USA and Uruguay. According to the London-based Ars Notoria Magazine, he is considered one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Argentine poetry and a leading figure in the genre throughout Latin America.
