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The Desert of Atacama V

Translated by Anna Deeny Morales
           Speak of the whistle of Atacama
           the wind erases like snow
           the color of that plain





i.   The Desert of Atacama soared over infinities of
     deserts to be there


ii.  Like the wind feel it pass whistling through the
     leaves of the trees


iii.  Look at it become transparent faraway   and just
     accompanied by the wind


iv.  But be careful: because if ultimately the Desert
     of Atacama were not where it should be the
     whole world would begin to whistle through the
     leaves of the trees   and when we'd see ourselves
     in the same never   transparent   whistles
     in the wind swallowing the color of this pampa

Raúl Zurita, "The Desert of Atacama V" from Purgatory, translated by Anna Deeny. Copyright © 2009 by Raul Zurita.  Reprinted by permission of University of California Press.
Source: Purgatory (University of California Press, 2009)
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