• Los Ángeles Bélicos / War Angels

    Rafael Alberti translated by John Murillo

    Fall 2024

    Los Ángeles Bélicos

    (Norte, Sur)

    Viento contra viento.
    Yo, torre sin mando, en medio.

    Remolinos de ciudades
    bajan los desfiladeros.
    Ciudades del viento sur,
    que me vieron.

    Por las neveras, rodando,
    pueblos.
    Pueblos que yo desconozco,
    ciudades del viento norte,
    que no me vieron.

    Gentío de mar y tierra,
    nombres, preguntas, recuerdos,
    frente a frente.
    Balumbas de frío encono,
    cuerpo a cuerpo.

    Yo, torre sin mando, en medio,
    livida torre colgada
    de almas muertas que me vieron,
    que no me vieron.

    Viento contra viento.


    War Angels 

    (North, South)

    Wind against wind.
    I, unfettered tower, in the middle.

    Rafael Alberti (1902-1999) was one of the most significant members of the group of writers known as the Generación del 27. His first book, Marinero en tierra, earned the author a Premio Nacional de Literatura in 1924. Before the end of the Spanish Civil War, he was forced into exile, though he returned to Spain following the country’s transition to democracy. A multi-talented artist, he also produced works for theatre, memoirs, and paintings. The many awards he received include the Premio Cervantes (1983).


    John Murillo is the author of the poetry collections Up Jump the Boogie (Cypher 2010, Four Way Books 2020), and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry (Four Way 2020), winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Murillo’s poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Poetry, and Best American Poetry. Currently, he is an associate professor of Englis and director of the creative writing program at Wesleyan University.

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