Going rogue on translating Mario Benedetti poems because, 1) it's interesting to do, and 2) I don't agree with how his official translator is doing it. And 3) I feel he deserves to be known outside of South America, where he's as popular as a poet can be. This is one of my favorites, so far:
Minor Poet
The goal is obscurity.
I have arrived before.
—J. L. Borges “A Minor Poet”
One time they told him
in code of calm hate
that he is / that he always has been
a minor poet
and suddenly he has noted
that he felt at ease
in that hierarchy
in the years of return
it is very gratifying
to be a minor poet
when he reads and rereads
their major poets
and dialogues with them
no longer as equal to equal
but between unequals
without mistrust he assumes
the cordial and also
stellar distance
which seperates him from them
the good thing the best thing
is that in that distance
envy doesn’t circulate
the major poets are truly major
among other reasons
because they are compared
with the minor poets
their genius is the advantage
over the defenseless people
who write badly
by vocation and sometimes
by mistake
after all what
would become of the major
poets without the minor
poets
without their inspiration?
the minor poets
at times write from love
from trembling
and they call bread bread
or viceversa wine wine
they write verses alone
on terraces
in airports /
they construct their silences
in the middle of the roar
and fill the caution
with words
certain readers say
that they are almost like them
(they’re minor readers
of course)
some admire
the minor poets
and nourish themselves with dates
of their complete works
in the years of return
it is very gratifying
to be a minor poet
—Mario Benedetti (trans. John Yohe)
Poeta menor
La meta es el olvido.
Yo he llegado antes.
—J. L. Borges «Un poeta menor»
Alguna vez le han dicho
en clave de odio manso
que es / que siempre ha sido
un poeta menor
y de pronto had notado
que se sentía a gusto
en ese escalafón
en los años de vuelta
es muy gratificante
set un poeta menor
cuando lee y relee
a sus poetas mayores
y dialoga con ellos
ya no de igaul a igual
sino entre desiguales
asume sin recelo
la distancia cordial
y también sideral
que los separa de ellos
lo bueno lo mejor
es que en esa distancia
no circula la envidia
los poetas mayores
son mayores de veras
entre otras razones
porque se los compara
con los poetas menores
su genio es la ventaja
sobre los desvelados
ue hacen mala letra
por vocación y a veces
por equivocación
después de todo ¿qué
sería de los poetas
mayores sin los poetas
menores
sin su aliento?
los poetas menores
escriben a menudo
por amor / por temblor
y llaman al pan pan
o viceversa al vino vino
hacen verson a solas
en las terrazas
en los aeropuertos /
contruyen sus silencios
en medio del fragor
y llenan de palabras
la cautela
ciertos lectores dicen
qaue son casi como ellos
(son lectores menores
por supuesto)
unos y otros admiran
a los poetas mayores
y se nutren con citas
de sus obras completas
en los años de vuelta
es muy gratificante
ser un poeta menor
