Octavio Paz ( ) Mexico

The butterfly

The butterfly flew among the cars.
Marie Jose said to me: It has to be Chuang Tzu
On the way to New York.
But the butterfly
Did not know it was a butterfly
That dreamed to be Chaung Tzu
Or Chaung Tzu
Who dreamed to be a butterfly.
But the butterfly did not doubt:
Off it flew.

*****

La Mariposa

volaba entre los autos.
Marie José me dijo: ha de ser Chuang Tzu,
de paso por Nueva York.
Pero la mariposa
no sabía que era una mariposa
que soñaba ser Chuang Tzu
o Chuang Tzu
que soñaba ser una mariposa.
La mariposa no dudaba:
volaba.

~Octavio Paz

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Two Bodies

Two bodies face to face
Are sometimes like two waves
And the night is an ocean.

Two bodies face to face
Are sometimes like two stones
And the night is a desert.

Two bodies face to face
Are sometimes like the roots
Joined in the night.

Two bodies face to face
Are sometimes like knives
And the night is a lightening.

Two bodies face to face
Are like two stars that fall
In an empty sky.

*****

Dos Cuerpos

Dos cuerpos frente a frente
son a veces dos olas
y la noche es océano.

Dos cuerpos frente a frente
son a veces dos piedras
y la noche desierto.

Dos cuerpos frente a frente
son a veces raíces
en la noche enlazadas.

Dos cuerpos frente a frente
son a veces navajas
y la noche relámpago.

Dos cuerpos frente a frente
son dos astros que caen
en un cielo vacío.

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To Palpate

My hands
Open the curtains of your being,
Clothe you with another nakedness
Uncover the bodies of your body.
My hands
Invent another body from your body

*****

Palpar

Mis manos
abren las cortinas de tu ser
te visten con otra desnudez
descubren los cuerpos de tu cuerpo
Mis manos
inventan otro cuerpo a tu cuerpo.