James Lawless is an Irish poet and novelist. His awards, include the Scintilla Welsh Open Poetry Competition, the WOW award, the Cecil Day Lewis Award, the Sunday Tribune/Hennessy and Willesden Herald award nominations, and he was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. He is the author of five novels, a poetry collection, a children’s collection of stories and a study of modern poetry.
Please visit James Lawless at: https://jameslawless.net
Poem below from the poetry collection Rus In Urbe – available in Spanish and Italian versions too at Amazon.
I could die easily reclining on a chair
near the Mediterranean
in the evening,
after an inexpensive Rioja or San Miguel
where the balmy waves soothe.
And yet my eyes
push back the downfalling blinds
and a salty trickle of sweat
taunts at my lips.
But still… and still
I have the count of the waves
and the Mediterranean,
my darkening companion,
sheds its white sperm
and spends itself on the shore.
MURIENDO CERCA DEL MEDITERRANEO
Puedo morir facilmente
reclinando en una silla
cerca del mediterraneo
en una tarde despues de
una Rioja o San Miguel
en un lugar caliente
donde las ondas soporificas
me calman
sin embargo mis ojos
empujan atras las persianas que caen
y una gota salada de sudor
se mofa a mis labios
pero ya y ya
llevo el cuento de las ondas
y el mediterraneo
mi companero oscuriendo
se despoja de su esperma
y se disipa en la playa.
© Spanish translation by Anabel López Molina
Poetry in this post: © James Lawless
Published with the permission of James Lawless