El Paraíso (Paradise)

I am imagining paradise as a place without fear.

I am imagining paradise Estoy imaginando el paraíso

As a place without fear.          Como un lugar sin temor.

Here, we speak love Aquí, hablamos amor 

As a language, without                           Como un lenguaje, sin 

Translation, for every traducción, para cada 

Spirit. espíritu.

This paradise is inside me,                   Este paraíso está dentro de mí,

And I have found the jeweled key            Y he encontrado la llave enjoyada

To open the door...    Para abrir la puerta...

My eyes have been covered Mis ojos han sido cubiertos

For infinite years, Durante años infinitos,

And thus it has escaped me Y así se me ha escapado

Countless times. Innumerables veces.

Yet today, I free Aún hoy, libero

These sacred mirrors Estos espejos sagrados

Within me, to reflect          Dentro de mí, para reflejar

The absolute truth... La verdad absoluta...

That leads          Eso conduce

Once more una vez más

To paradise.         al paraíso.

Author's Note

I was highly influenced by Pablo Neruda in writing this; he's a favorite poet of mine.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Thank you for the beautiful and hopeful poem. When I was young. We had the great dream of utopia. Everyone working 32 hours a week. Writers, Musicians and Artist had time to create. Paradise is the dream of most artist of words and drawings. A outstanding poem.
Coyote

[Eric Pudalov]

Thank you, thank you Coyote!! So glad that you like it and appreciate it...oh, and I understand what you're saying too. Although we may have day jobs, etc., we still must find time and space for our art, somehow or other. I find that my work actually spurs me to create more poetry. How about you?

[Rachelle]

I like the Spanish version better!

[Eric Pudalov]

Me too, haha!! And that's funny, because I'm not even a native Spanish speaker - I think it just sounds more beautiful.

[Rachelle]

My native language has Spanish influences. The Castillian influence makes everything more lyrical.

[Rachelle]

Btw, you can omit the "Me" and just begin with Estoy. Same meaning.

[Eric Pudalov]

Oh, thank you! I guess that's being overly formal, huh?

[Frieda P]

I'm loving your fearless paradise, Spanish is similar to Italiano, wish I could read it, always sounds better to me in another language, perhaps it's the mystery of it. This one left me feeling elated.

I'd leave that last 'and' off in your stunning last stanza, which leads to paradise, I think it'd read better that way imho. Really nicely pen'd Eric.

[Tina Louise UK]

Beautiful Eric...loved it...enjoyed the Spanish lesson too :) x

[Eric Pudalov]

Thank you Tia!! It was kind of a refresher course for me too...haven't taken actual classes in years.

[K.N. Lorenzen]

I enjoyed it thoroughly. I like the clarity and airiness of it, which I think support its theme of (Intense happiness??)
No he leido mucho poesia Española, y el Español tampoco es mi idioma nativa. Sin embargo, yo pienso que funciona bien en Español, y a mi parece un poco a los poemas romanticos de Pablo Neruda.
Bien escrito, de verdad!

K.

K.

[Jack...]

Eric, I live in San Antonio and am surrounded by spanish being spoken all of the time and I can't read it. :) But I can read the English version and I think you did a wonderful job describing your thoughts on paradise. I'm sure everyone has their own idea of what paradise is, and some of those thoughts might be very surprising. However your idea is beautiful in its own right. Very nicely done.

[Eric Pudalov]

Thank you very much, Jack!! I appreciate it...I'm a bit nervous about the reviews from someone who actually speaks Spanish, but I'm sure I can make corrections if necessary. (And yes, everyone does have their own idea of what paradise is.)