RESURRECTION
They all ran away from him
and it was not strange
never in Jerusalem
they saw a dead man walking
even his friends
they reacted with fear
when he showed up
by the door frame
everyone looked at him suspiciously
people walked away
swiftly on your side
it was
a condemned ghost
for transgressing
the immutable laws of the grave.
the last time they saw him
I drank a glass of wine
to the health of his friend Lázaro
the only one who understood
the terrible loneliness of the resurrected…
BAR PEOPLE
a distilled wine
with gender grapes
baste slowly
the broken pieces
of my heart without a country.
Time
take a nap
at the exact point
where Christ
lost the nails of it.
Between the glass and the bottle
a forgotten cigarette
it makes me cry
tears of smoke
at the bar
alcoholic corpses
remember times gone by
they cry for their lost tombstones
They cry for their rusty dead.
outside it rains
Suspensive points
that fall from the sky
They are knives that stick
in exact and precise geometry
from the heart…
CHRIST THE ELECTOR
they will lower you
a few moments from the cross
and they will give you
a Pandora’s box
the Pharisees will say
that you are a good person
the sadducees will express
your good intentions
mark a + on the paper
they will say
and you can go back to your work
having said that
they will put you on the cross again
and they will keep hitting you
For ever and ever, amen…
PLASTER LOVES
Now
that I am a harlequin
wire and plaster
lying on a bed
now
that I am a sparrow
with concrete wings
I can still tell
I want to love
despite the irons
that cross my hips
despite
of streptomycin
that makes me vomit
I am the only statue
who looks with love
to the wax masks
that cross the corridors
in this hospital…
FABLE OF ASSES
The donkeys
they were losing power
they were not elected
for no public office
all
their political strategies
They inevitably failed.
Then
at an important party meeting
decided to paint stripes and make
a strong communication campaign.
Since then
the whole country votes for a zebra
that from time to time brays
the same broken promises
of their asshole co-religionists…
written by ©Emilio Barraza Durán
Emilio Barraza Durán, Viña del Mar, Chile, February 28, 1955. He completed his secondary studies at the Industrial School of Ciudad Jardín, and his university studies at the Catholic University of Valparaíso, graduating as a Professor of Spanish in 1983.
In 1998 he obtained the first prize for his play “Las tristes primaveras del humo” and the publication of his poems in the Anthology “Versos de viento y desamor” published by the Department of Culture of Secreduc Valparaíso.
In 2000 he completed his internship “A creative approach to the Chilean Educational Reform” at the University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain.
In 2013 he published “El Callejón de los Corderos” (Editorial Magoeditores), a critical and anti-systemic book.
In 2014 he obtained the following distinctions:
Publication of his poems in two editions of the literary magazine The Word of the Arizona State University, USA.
-Publication of his work “The transgressed flag: a vision of the patriotic symbols in dictatorship” in the book “Memory and perspective: 40 years after the military coup” edited by the Editorial University of Playa Ancha de Valparaíso.
-Publication of her finalist work “Good night, Rossana” in the “Anthology L.AI.A V Ensueños” edited in New York by the Latin American Intercultural Alliance and Editorial Muse & Pen.
Anthology Verses from the Heart, Editorial Diversidad Literaria Madrid, Spain.
-Winner of the first national poetry prize in a contest organized by the Chilean publisher Verbo(des)nudo with the book “Sueño ecuacional” in January 2015.
2015, appears in the Latin American Poets Anthology of Editorial Imaginante, Argentina 2016
Anthology Do not invite me to heaven if there is no wine, Editorial La Gorra de Valparaíso.
September 2016, selected in Anthology Peace as Care of Creation with El Sueño de Nezahualcoyolt, Editorial United Peace Federation, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
October 2016, winner of the Life Lines contest of Editorial San Pablo. His work Only You appears in Anthology Los Tesoros del Alma 2016.
January 2017, selected and edited by Furman Magazine 217, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA.
2017: Anthology “Poetics of the Underworld” anthologized by Eduardo Embry Castro and Teresa Calderón in Editorial de La Gorra Valparaíso
2017: Anthology “Convergences” edited by the poet and editor Gino Ginoris, Editorial Verbo(des)nudo.
2018: Anthology “Without Borders” Editorial of the Valparaíso Cap.
2018: poet selected for Solideo Gloria act of adoration organized by the Pastoral Catholic University of Santiago de Chile.
2019: “Writing and Scarring: the poetry of Marcela Cortés Moyano”, prologue to the book Sangra Etérea Piel, presented at the Viña del Mar Book Fair.
2019: Anthology After Poetry The Barbones, Valparaíso, Juan Antonio Huesbe, editor and compiler.
2019: Review of the book Totemica Insular by the Cuban-Canadian poet Lídice Megla published by Amazon, Canada.
2020: Review of the book Dialogue with the Mirror by Julianita Cisne, Editorial Letras al Viento, Miami USA.
2020: Anthology of Light, Nedazka Pika and Entre Paréntesis editors, Santiago.
2020: Fragua de Preces, Ibero-American Poets Anthology, Alisios Cultural and Grupo Abra, Canary Islands, Spain.
2021: After Poetry II, Anthology, Juan Antonio Huesbe editor and compiler, Valparaíso.
2021: Necessary Words, Poetic Humanity International Anthology, Viajero Ediciones, Ramón Lizana editor
Valparaiso.
2021: Flight of Dreams Anthology, Dora Miranda and Regional Literary Association Editors.
2022: Reading of Poems at the Viña del Mar Book Fair.
2022: Reading of poems Tribute to Gabriela Mistral, Gam Museum, Vicuña.
2022: Newenke Kura, Anthology of Living Stones, Nedazka Pika and Entreparentesis Editores, Santiago, Chile.
Feature photo art Banner of power and hierarchy 9inx12in oil, collage Mitchell Pluto 2022