A native of Venezuela, Banu Valladares graduated with a masters degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she taught composition. She has taught poetry, play writing, creative writing, and Latino culture in public schools. A poet, writer, painter, and storyteller, she has spoken at local and national conferences on the importance of people discovering their native voice in order to find a unique place in society. She has been the director of Community Arts Education and Partnerships at the Durham Arts Council, where she oversaw the CAPS (Creative Arts in Public/Private School) program, which provides creative and interactive programs that teach core subjects through the arts and DAC's Art School. She now serves as Literature Director for the North Carolina Arts Council.
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I hear voices more and more
Often these days
Remote
Ancient
I make them out in my head
In languages
I fully
Understand
Like cascading water in
The wilderness
Resonating
Through the body
Songs of love and adventure
Hearts full of bright
Joy
Chords
Reaching from distant spaces
Across oceans
And time
To be
Heard once more
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The following appeared on the NC Arts Council website in 2006.
Love
In the midst of your day
When you stop to
thank the universe for the blessings you have received,
At that moment
when you
look out the window and marvel at creation
When you stop to
gather your breath and
fall right back into your body,
into the present moment
At that point
Feel my arms around you
And hear me whisper in your ear:
"I love you."
For all is perfect in the world
when we freeze in time and listen
to the beat of our hearts.
Amor
En el medio de tu día
Cuando pares para
Darle las gracias al universo por los dones que has recibido,
En ese momento
cuando
mires por la ventana maravillado en la creación
Cuando pares para
Recuperar tu aliento y
Dejarte caer de nuevo en tu cuerpo
Al presente
En ese momento
Siente mis brazos alrededor de ti
Y escúchame suspirar en tu oído:
"Te amo."
Porque todo está perfecto en el mundo
Cuando congelamos el tiempo y escuchamos
El latido de nuestros corazones.
5 comments:
Beautiful -- and thanks for posting the Spanish too -- nice to see the two together. Love that freezing in time line!
thanks for introducing me to another new poem! i wish i could read spanish. such a beautiful language :)
Beautiful simplicity..can feel those loving arms!
Hi, Kathryn. Does Banu have a blog? I am interested in her story, particularly her idea of people finding their native voice as a means of finding their place in society. I, too, was born in Venezuela, although I left there at a very early age (5) to go to the US. I do all my writing in English, although most of of my living and thinking (and feeling?) in Spanish, now that I have been living in Spain for 25 years. The subject of people's whose lives and personalities span more than one language is of interest to me, along with the difficulties of translating poetry.
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