Tides
I grew, immersed in natural waters
like the mollusc in marine phosphorescence.
In me sounded the crusty salt
forming my singular skeleton.
How to explain — almost without
the blue and bitter movement of breathing,
one by one, the waves repeated
what I sensed and trembled with
until the salt and the spray formed me.
The scorn and desire of a wave,
the green rhythm which at its most secret
set up a tower of transparency.
That secret stayed and soon
I felt myself beating with it,
my voice growing with the water.
(Translated from the Spanish by Alastair Reid).
