Fritz Perls: Gestalt Prayer

I do my thing and you do your thing
I am not in this world to
live up to your expectations,
and you are not in this world to
live up to mine.
You are you
and I am I
and if by chance

we find each other, it's beautiful.

If not, it can’t be helped.

Fritz Perls: Gestalt Gebet

Ich lebe mein Leben und du lebst dein Leben.

Ich bin nicht auf dieser Welt, um deinen Erwartungen zu entsprechen –

und du bist nicht auf dieser Welt, um meinen Erwartungen zu entsprechen.

ICH BIN ich und DU BIST du –

und wenn wir uns zufällig treffen und finden, dann ist das schön,

wenn nicht, dann ist auch das gut so.

Csukás István: Szerelmes vers

Ülj ide mellém s nézzük együtt
az utat, mely hozzád vezetett.
Ne törődj most a kitérőkkel,
én is úgy jöttem, ahogy lehetett.
Hol van már, aki kérdezett és
hol van már az a felelet –
leolvasztotta a nap
a hátamra fagyott teleket.
Zötyögtette a szívem, de most szeretem
az utat, mely hozzád vezetett.

Jacques Prévert: Immense et rouge

Immense et rouge
Au-dessus du Grand Palais
Le soleil d'hiver apparaît
Et disparaît
Comme lui mon coeur va disparaître
Et tout mon sang va s'en aller
S'en aller à ta recherche
Mon amour
Ma beauté
Et te trouver
Là où tu es.

Laura Castillo: Dos

Tengo dos camas

y dos cuartos

dos diferentes casas

dos papás

y dos mamás.

Tengo dos ojos

y dos manos

dos pies

y dos brazos

pero no puedo estar

en dos sitios diferentes

a la misma vez.

Laura Castillo: Two

I have two beds

and two bedrooms

Two different houses

Two fathers

and two mothers.

I have two eyes

And two hands

Two feet

And two arms

But I cannot be

In two different places

At the same time.

Mario Benedetti: Új, óceánközi csatorna

Javaslom, építsünk magunknak
akadály- és
kifogásmentes csatornát,
ahol végre
szót érthetne
a te Atlanti pillantásod
az én Csendes
természetemmel.

Gioconda Belli: De la mujer al hombre

Dios te hizo hombre para mí.
Te admiro desde lo más profundo
de mi subconsciente
con una admiración extraña y desbordada
que tiene un dobladillo de ternura.
Tus problemas, tus cosas
me intrigan, me interesan
y te observo
mientras discurres y discutes
hablando del mundo
y dándole una nueva geografía de palabras
Mi mente esta covada para recibirte,
para pensar tus ideas
y darte a pensar las mías;
te siento, mi compañero, hermoso
juntos somos completos
y nos miramos con orgullo
conociendo nuestras diferencias
sabiéndonos mujer y hombre
y apreciando la disimilitud
de nuestros cuerpos.

Forrest Gander: Scaffolding and Wind

The child showed what she
learned in school today.
Guess what this is she said
cracking both hands together
over her father's head
and running her fingers lightly
down the sides of his face.
"An egg?" he said.
No, your heart.

Carl Sandburg: Choose

The single clenched fist lifted and ready,

Or the open asking hand held out and waiting                          

Choose: 

For we meet by one or the other.

Buda Ferenc: Homo homini lupus

Mióta világ a világ,
főbe a fejsze belevág,
ember embernek farkasa,
öröktől ádáz ordasa.

Ordasok bár a farkasok,
hozzánk képest irgalmasok,
egymáshoz jók, hűségesek,
okosak, illedelmesek,
nem ölnek, csak ha éhesek.

Persze megesik, szentigaz:
köztük is gonoszra akadsz,
hisz néha – gondolj csak bele! –
farkas farkasnak embere.

Howard Nemerov: Mert rákérdeztél a vers és próza közti különbségre

Fecskék csipedtek, szitált az eső,
lested, hogy dermed pehellyé a csepp:
fátyolfüggönyön lebbenő,
ezüstből fehérbe kavargó balett.

Eltűnődtél, cseppek-e vagy pelyhek
- s ekkor zuhantukban szárnyra keltek.

Hafiz: The Sun Never Says

Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,

“You owe
Me.”

Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.

Alden Nowlan: It's Good To Be Here

I'm in trouble, she said
to him. That was the first
time in history that anyone
had ever spoken of me.

It was 1932 when she
was just fourteen years old
and men like him
worked all day for
one stinking dollar.

There's quinine, she said.
That's bullshit, he told her.

Then she cried and then
for a long time neither of them
said anything at all and then
their voices kept rising until
they were screaming at each other
and then there was another long silence and then
they began to talk very quietly and at last he said
well, I guess we'll just have to make the best of it.

While I lay curled up,
my heart beating,
in the darkness inside her.

Don Herold o Nadine Stair: Instants

(poem attributed to  Jorge Luis Borges)

If I could live again my life,
In the next - I'll try,
- to make more mistakes,
I won't try to be so perfect,
I'll be more relaxed,
I'll be more full - than I am now,
In fact, I'll take fewer things seriously,
I'll be less hygenic,
I'll take more risks,
I'll take more trips,
I'll watch more sunsets,
I'll climb more mountains,
I'll swim more rivers,
I'll go to more places - I've never been,
I'll eat more ice creams and less (lime) beans,
I'll have more real problems - and less imaginary
ones,
I was one of those people who live
prudent and prolific lives -
each minute of his life,
Offcourse that I had moments of joy - but,
if I could go back I'll try to have only good moments,

If you don't know - thats what life is made of,
Don't lose the now!

I was one of those who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer,
without a hot-water bottle,
and without an umberella and without a parachute,

If I could live again - I will travel light,
If I could live again - I'll try to work bare feet
at the beginning of spring till
the end of autumn,
I'll ride more carts,
I'll watch more sunrises and play with more children,
If I have the life to live - but now I am 85,
- and I know that I am dying ...

Mario Benedetti: Pausa

De vez en cuando hay que hacer
una pausa

contemplarse a sí mismo
sin la fruición cotidiana

examinar el pasado
rubro por rubro
etapa por etapa
baldosa por baldosa

y no llorarse las mentiras
sino cantarse las verdades.

Vera Pavlova: 91

dropped
and falling
from such
heights
for so
long
that
maybe
I will have
enough time
to learn
flying

Hal Sirowitz: The Benefits of Ignorance

If ignorance is bliss, Father said,
shouldn't you be looking blissful?
You should check to see if you have
the right kind of ignorance. If you're
not getting the benefits that most people
get from acting stupid, then you should
go back to what you always were—
being too smart for your own good.

Jorge Luis Borges: Parting

Three hundred nights like three hundred walls
must rise between my love and me
and the sea will be a black art between us.

Nothing will be left but memories.
O afternoons earned with suffering,
nights hoping for the sight of you,
fields along my way, firmament
that I am seeing and losing...
Final as marble
your absence will sadden other afternoons.

Translation from the spanish original found at:
http://spanishpoems.blogspot.hu/2006_12_01_archive.html?m=1

Bírtalan Ferenc: Míg megnövök

Engem ne emeljen a magasba senki,
ha nem tud addig tartani,
míg tényleg megnövök.
Guggoljon ide mellém,
ki nem csak hallani,
de érteni akar,
hogy közel legyen a szívdobogásunk.

Gerald Locklin: No Longer a Teenager

my daughter, who turns twenty tomorrow,
has become truly independent.
she doesn't need her father to help her
deal with the bureaucracies of school,
hmo's, insurance, the dmv.
she is quite capable of handling
landlords, bosses, and auto repair shops.
also boyfriends and roommates.
and her mother.

frankly it's been a big relief.
the teenage years were often stressful.
sometimes, though, i feel a little useless.

but when she drove down from northern California
to visit us for a couple of days,
she came through the door with the biggest, warmest hug in the world for me.
and when we all went out for lunch,
she said, affecting a little girl's voice,
"i'm going to sit next to my daddy,"
and she did, and slid over close to me
so i could put my arm around her shoulder
until the food arrived

i've been keeping busy since she's been gone,
mainly with my teaching and writing,
a little travel connected with both,
but i realized now how long it had been
since i had felt deep emotion.

when she left i said, simply,
"i love you,"
and she replied, quietly,
"i love you too."
you know it isn't always easy for
a twenty-year-old to say that;
it isn't always easy for a father.

literature and opera are full of
characters who die for love:
i stay alive for her.

Michael Glaviano: Untitled

what if we had as many
words for love as the inuits
have for snow
what if my heart pumped snow instead
of blood this love is soft and puffy don’t
slip on this love because it is packed hard as ice
this love is dry and crunchy this love is
wet and muddy this
love is ideal
for packing into
tidy rectangular prisms and
using to build the
igloo that we
will try hard to
melt from the
inside.

Charles Simic: Stone

Go inside a stone
That would be my way.
Let somebody else become a dove
Or gnash with a tiger’s tooth.
I am happy to be a stone.

From the outside the stone is a riddle:
No one knows how to answer it.
Yet within, it must be cool and quiet
Even though a cow steps on it full weight,
Even though a child throws it in a river;
The stone sinks, slow, unperturbed
To the river bottom
Where the fishes come to knock on it
And listen.

I have seen sparks fly out
When two stones are rubbed,
So perhaps it is not dark inside after all;
Perhaps there is a moon shining
From somewhere, as though behind a hill—
Just enough light to make out
The strange writings, the star-charts
On the inner walls.

Gioconda Belli: Parto

Me acuerdo
cuando nació mi hija.

Yo era un solo dolor miedoso,
esperando ver salir de entre mis piernas
un sueńo de nueve meses
con cara y sexo.

Izet Sarajlić: Luck in Sarajevo

In Sarajevo
in the spring of 1992,
everything is possible:

you go to stand in a bread line
and end up in an emergency room
with your leg amputated.

Afterwards, you still maintain
that you were very lucky.

(translated by Charles Simic)

Baranyi Ferenc: Körözvény

Ezerkilencszázhetvenkilenc
október tizenharmadikán
fölegyenesedett a kertben
és lopva szétnézett az apám.
Az ásót földbe ütve hagyta,
mintha csupán a boltba menne,
s mivel kezén is, homlokán is
zavarta őt a munka szennye:
megmosdózott a locsolónál
- nyitva maradt nyomán a vízcsap -
s úgy lopakodott ki a kertből,
mint aki percre távozik csak.
Aztán - mikor senki se látta -
egy alacsony felhőre lépett
és nekivágott kiskabátban
a magasságos őszi égnek,
amikor rájöttünk a cselre:
már nem tudtuk követni szemmel.
Fogják meg! Ott! A földi létből
kereket old egy öregember!

Hafiz: This Sky

This
Sky
Where we live
Is no place to lose your wings
So love, love
Love.

Wendy Cope: Two Cures For Love

1. Don't see him. Don't phone or write a letter.
2. The easy way: get to know him better.

Gustavo Alejandro Castiñeiras: Dime

Dime por favor donde no estás
en qué lugar puedo no ser tu ausencia
dónde puedo vivir sin recordarte,
y dónde recordar, sin que me duela.

Dime por favor en que vacío,
no está tu sombra llenando los centros;
dónde mi soledad es ella misma,
y no el sentir que tú te encuentras lejos.

Dime por favor por qué camino,
podré yo caminar, sin ser tu huella;
dónde podré correr no por buscarte,
y dónde descanzar de mi tristeza.

Dime por favor cuál es la noche,
que no tiene el color de tu mirada;
cuál es el sol, que tiene luz tan solo,
y no la sensación de que me llamas.

Dime por favor donde hay un mar,
que no susurre a mis oídos tus palabras.

Dime por favor en qué rincón,
nadie podrá ver mi tristeza;
dime cuál es el hueco de mi almohada,
que no tiene apoyada tu cabeza.

Dime por favor cuál es la noche,
en que vendrás, para velar tu sueño;
que no puedo vivir, porque te extraño;
y que no puedo morir, porque te quiero.

Joseph Brodsky: Belfast Tune

Here’s a girl from a dangerous town.
    She crops her dark hair short
so that less of her has to frown
    when someone gets hurt.

She folds her memories like a parachute.
    Dropped, she collects the peat
and cooks her veggies at home: they shoot
    here where they eat.

Ah, there’s more sky in these parts than, say,
    ground. Hence her voice’s pitch,
and her stare stains your retina like a gray
    bulb when you switch

hemispheres, and her knee-length quilt
    skirt’s cut to catch the squall.
I dream of her either loved or killed
    because the town’s too small.

Louise Glück: Unwritten Law

Interesting how we fall in love:
In my case, absolutely. Absolutely, and, alas, often--
so it was in my youth.
And always with rather boyish men--
unformed, sullen, or shyly kicking the dead leaves:
in the manner of Balanchine.
Nor did I see them as versions of the same thing.
I, with my inflexible Platonism,
my fierce seeing of only one thing at a time:
I ruled against the indefinite article.
And yet, the mistakes of my youth
made me hopeless, because they repeated themselves,
as is commonly true.
But in you I felt something beyond the archetype--
a true expansiveness, a buoyance and love of the earth
utterly alien to my nature. To my credit,
I blessed my good fortune in you.
Blessed it absolutely, in the manner of those years.
And you in your wisdom and cruelty
gradually taught me the meaninglessness of that term.

Baranyai Csaba: Elvesztettem

Hová lett?
Az előbb még itt volt.
Elgurulhatott, vagy mi.
Mint gumi, ruganyosan pattanhatott
Keresztül az asztal alatt
Egészen az ágy lábáig.
Onnan, gondolva egyet
Fel a csillárig,
Majd le az ablak párkányára
Végig le a fűbe
Emeleteket zuhanva
A többi közé
Megint
Elvesztettem.
Egy napot.

Az életemből.