The Ofi Press Magazine
International Poetry and Literature from Mexico City
Poem by Toby Martinez de las Rivas (UK), Published in Issue 29.
The North East Special Edition: Displacement (Part 1)
Poem, Three Weeks After Conception
The sky will be shaped like a bow when you crane your neck to pray into it.
Roofless, but not burned. Though black, spangled.
Your hair will be the white spray at High Force,
teeth pebbles in the vent.
You will escape the ogre of psoriasis that lives on the knees,
elbowcaps, genitals and face.
For you the stars have already locked into place.
For you the blue coltsfoot in the allotment will be an electrical wonder.
The Red Kite, wolf and bear will return to the borders in numbers.
You will be buried in a country far away, a country like home,
of absolute rainfall.
Beneath a late moon, unfurling.
You shall witness the domination of Jerusalem.
The capsize of London.
I pray that I will never hit or humiliate you,
for whom the best wine in the world will be pressed in Kent.
Who will live to see supermarkets dictating military policy to governments.
Our Lady of Gateshead, watch over us.
Poema, tres semanas después de la Concepción
El cielo tendrá forma de arco cuando formes tu cuello para rezar en él.
Sin techo, pero no quemado. Aunque negro, estrellado.
Tu cabello será el blanco rocío en la cascada,
piedritas como dientes en el respiradero.
Escaparás el ogro de psoriasis que vive en las rodillas,
codos, genitales y faz.
Para ti las estrellas se han encerrado en lugar.
Para ti el azul geranio en la parcela será un eléctrico asombro.
El rojo papalote, lobo y oso regresarán a las fronteras en números.
Serás enterrada en un lejano país, un país como el hogar,
de absoluta lluvia.
Bajo una luna tardía, desdoblada
Serás testigo de la dominación de Jerusalén
El volcamiento de Londres
Rezo para nunca pegarte o humillarte,
para quien el mejor vino del mundo será exprimido en Kent.
Quien vivirá para ver supermercados dictar políticas militares a los gobiernos.
Nuestra Señora de Gateshead, cuida de nosotros.
Biography of the Poet
Toby Martinez de las Rivas was born in 1978, and graduated from Durham University in History & Archaeology.
He has had work published in a range of UK and American journals. His first collection, Terror, will be published by Faber & Faber in January, 2014.