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Enrique Hernández D’Jesús (Venezuela, 1947)

Enrique Hernández D’Jesús (Venezuela, 1947)

Venus Appears With a Plate of Fruits

And thus begins the great feast with Bacchus.
The invitation is always the same
under the bridge
Beauty leaves the place of night
and the sun complicates the day
I always seem absent
without energy in the dwelling
And if my Bacchus has not given a practical use to life
it’s because he was mistaken. But these pieces of advice
will be very useful, this play of love, these modifications
of time, these breaking-ups, this mute exercise
Out of modesty I have not been able to slip even more
I have given rise to words and things
I have been present in remembrance and in thought
I have surrounded myself with interrogations
Tied up to the human
Rash
Playful
Making noise with my shoes
opening closed and forbidden doors
Thus I am left with my judgment cloth
When I go out I recover abandoned objects
and go on answering the eternal question
of abandoning
and leaving my Bacchus alone in the patio.

I join my friends
and I call him again
I make signs with my eyes
I need the loose rein
and I feel the fruit salad plate
how it becomes confused with our skins
The watermelon begins caressing my breasts
the melon my back
the banana is introduced in my sex
the tangerine bathes my hair.
And I give the denied apple to Bacchus
to quiet him down

Tranlated by Nicolás Suescún

Enrique Hernández D’Jesús was born in Merida, Venezuela, in 1947. Poet, photographer and editor. Since 1978 he has carried out exhibitions in his country, Italy, Spain and Puerto Rico. He has published: Muerto de risa, 1968; Mi abuelo primaveral y sudoroso, 1974; Así sea uno de aquí, 1976; Los últimos fabuladores, 1977; Mi sagrada familia, 1978; Mi abuelo volvió del fuego, 1980; El circo, 1986; Retrato en familia, 1988; Los poemas de Venus García, 1988; Recurso del huésped, 1988; Magicismos, 1989; La semejanza transfigurada (94 fotografías intervenidas por Vicente Gerbasi), 1996; and La tentación de la carne, 1997. He has obtained diverse literature and photography prizes. At the moment he lives in Caracas.
Última actualización: 04/07/2018