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Elicura Chihuailaf
Indigenous Literature

Two Poems

  • by Elicura Chihuailaf

Ñi pewma mew vlkantunmu ti puel mapu witrunko

Choñv kachuwvn
gvnetulmekefiel ti mawvn
ka pvrvm wamfiñ ti pvlef
chi mawvn
witrulu lelfvn mew
Gvforechi mu ti mawvn!
allkvtuwvn, puru purugen
ti rayen mu
Nepeli fey ayiwkvlen witrañ
pvramuwan
nvwkvlean feyti kvme nvmvn
lafanza rayen mu.

 

When the Waters of the East Sing in My Dreams

I am withered grass
waving at the rain
but soon I feel the first drops
falling on the fields
Let this water soak me!
I hear myself say, dancing
amongst the flowers
When I wake up I will rise
touched
and held up by the scent
of lavender.

 

Ko ñi newen yeneenew

Zewma fvchan iñche aliwen
rayilelu mu
azkintulen fiñ ti afpun mapu
Tunten kvrvf mew miyawken?
kimlam
Nome lafken mew petu konchi
antv mew
werkvlenew zewma ñi Kallfv Kvyen
amuan ka ñi llowmeafiel
pu Fvchakecheyem
Kallfv, kallfvley tati mapu
chew yiñ amuan
Ko ñi newen ñochikechi yeneenew
Wenu Lewfv kiñe pichi troykeley
mvten tuwaykvlelu kom
afpun Mapu mew

Tvfachi Pewma mew mvlewean:
Remumvn pu remukelu! Ñvkvfkvlen
amutuan
lakenochi vlkantun mogen mew.

 

The Spirits of the Water Carry Me Off

I am old, and from a blooming tree
I look at the horizon
How many airs did I walk?
I do not know
From the other side of the sea
the setting sun
has already sent out its messengers
and I am departing to meet
my ancestors
Blue is the place where we go
The spirits of the water carry me off
step by step
Wenulewfv / the River of the Sky
is barely one small circle
in the universe

In this Dream I shall stay:
Stroke, oarsmen! In Silence
I move away
in the invisible song of life.

 

Translated by Camila Yver

  • Elicura Chihuailaf

Photo: Gonzalo Donoso

Elicura Chihuailaf is a definitive voice of contemporary Mapuche poetry. He writes in both Mapuzugun and Spanish, and he has translated works by other poets, such as Pablo Neruda, into Mapuzugun. His published works include En el país de la memoria (1988), El invierno, su imagen y otros poemas azules (1991), and De sueños azules y contrasueños (1995), Recado confidencial a los chilenos (1999), Kallfv (2006), A orillas de un sueño azul (2010), La vida es una nube azul (2019), and El azul del tiempo que nos sueña (2020). In 2020, he was awarded the National Literature Prize of Chile, becoming the first Mapuche writer to receive this honor. He has been referred to as the lonko, or headman, of present-day Mapuche poetry.

  • Camila Yver
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