I’m a bad poet for not jumping on this earlier pero April is National Poetry Month here in the U.S. So for what remains of the month I will post a poem from a Latino/Latin American author.

Hoy I chose Gabriela Mistral, porque I used to live in Chile where she was born and my second daughter is named after her. Pero also because Mistral, born Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga was the first Latin American mujer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Besos
Hay besos que pronuncian por sí solos
la sentencia de amor condenatoria,
hay besos que se dan con la mirada
hay besos que se dan con la memoria.

Hay besos silenciosos, besos nobles
hay besos enigmáticos, sinceros
hay besos que se dan sólo las almas
hay besos por prohibidos, verdaderos.

Hay besos que calcinan y que hieren,
hay besos que arrebatan los sentidos,
hay besos misteriosos que han dejado
mil sueños errantes y perdidos.

Hay besos problemáticos que encierran
una clave que nadie ha descifrado,
hay besos que engendran la tragedia
cuantas rosas en broche han deshojado.

Hay besos perfumados, besos tibios
que palpitan en íntimos anhelos,
hay besos que en los labios dejan huellas
como un campo de sol entre dos hielos.

Hay besos que parecen azucenas
por sublimes, ingenuos y por puros,
hay besos traicioneros y cobardes,
hay besos maldecidos y perjuros.

Judas besa a Jesús y deja impresa
en su rostro de Dios, la felonía,
mientras la Magdalena con sus besos
fortifica piadosa su agonía.

Desde entonces en los besos palpita
el amor, la traición y los dolores,
en las bodas humanas se parecen
a la brisa que juega con las flores.

Hay besos que producen desvaríos
de amorosa pasión ardiente y loca,
tú los conoces bien son besos míos
inventados por mí, para tu boca.

Besos de llama que en rastro impreso
llevan los surcos de un amor vedado,
besos de tempestad, salvajes besos
que solo nuestros labios han probado.

¿Te acuerdas del primero…? Indefinible;
cubrió tu faz de cárdenos sonrojos
y en los espasmos de emoción terrible,
llenaron sé de lágrimas tus ojos.

¿Te acuerdas que una tarde en loco exceso
te vi celoso imaginando agravios,
te suspendí en mis brazos… vibró un beso,
y qué viste después…? Sangre en mis labios.

Yo te enseñe a besar: los besos fríos
son de impasible corazón de roca,
yo te enseñé a besar con besos míos
inventados por mí, para tu boca.

For the English translation, learn Spanish. Ay pues claro I’m kidding. I think in translation the poem sounds a little cheesy pero hey.

Kisses
Translation from la Mala

There are kisses that announce for themselves
the sentence of condemed love,
there are kisses that are given with a glance
there are kisses that are given with remembering.

There are silent kisses, noble kisses
there are enigmatic kisses, sincere ones
there are kisses that souls only give
There are prohibited kisses, true ones.

There are kisses that burn and wound,
there are kisses that
hay besos captivate the senses
there are mysterious kisses that have left
1,000 errant and lost dreams.

There are problematic kisses that imprison
a clue that no one has deciphered
there are kisses that engender tragedy
how many budding roses have had their petals pulled.

There are perfumed kisses, lukewarm kisses
that beat in intimate longing
there are kisses that leave imprints on lip
like a landscape of sun between two ice cubes.

There are kisses that look like white lilies
for there sublimity, ingenious and purity,
there are traitorous and cowardly kisses
there are cursed and perjurous kisses.

Judas kisses Jesus and leave Judas and leaves imprinted
on his face of God the felony
while Magdalene with her kisses
mercifully strengthens his agony.

Since then in kisses throb
love, betrayal, and pain,
in human weddings they appear
in the breeze that plays among the flowers.

There are kisses that produce
amorous ravings of burning and insane passions
you know them well they are my kisses
invented by me for your mouth.

Kisses of flames that leave imprinted traces
in the wake of true love
stormy kisses, savage kisses
that only our lips have tasted.

Do you remember the first? undefinable
it covered your face with red blushes
and in the spasms of terrible emotion
your eyes filled with tears.

Do you remember that one afternoon in excess craziness
I found you jealous imagining offenses
I suspended you in my my arms…a kiss vibrated
and what did you later see? Blood on my lips.

I taught you how to kiss: cold kisses
are from impassive heart made of stone
I taught you how to kiss with my kisses
invented by me, for your mouth.