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The Spanish Poems of John Clare


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More Spanish Poems:

The Long Cold Silence
My Spanish Friend
Sleepy Spain
Short Poems
My Spanish Friend

     Hard sun
     biting into the long dry road
     that goes from one small nowhere to
     another.

     Hard sun
     that bites into the rough brown skin
     of bent backs in the hard dry
     village fields.
         Whose friend or foe are you?

     Soft moon
     dropping silver tear-drops
     that trickle down the window panes
     and vanish

     Soft moon
     that draws fingers across the strings
     of so many bright guitars
     that no-one hears
         What secrets do you know?

                    I come walking
 
                   a white road under
 
                   a white sun

                    I come looking
                    for reflections
                    under a pale moon

                The peasant in his ragged clothes
                invites me in
                feeds me
                gives me presents
                and a room to stay
                I look at him and wonder
                Who are you?

     The white moon
 
    shines
     down on friends
     who share a glass of wine
     afraid to ask
         who are you?

               Are you the man who killed
               his uncle
               and dragged those girls
               to a bend
               in the hard white road
               and kicked
               their bullet-ridden bodies
               down the hillside

     The white sun
     stares
     down on
     brown skin
     and asks
         who are you?

         
      Are you the man who took me in
         
     and shared your meagre bowl
         
     and took me to the bar
         
     and bought me drinks
         
     with your last pennies.

    The white moon
    spins
    like a silver coin
    She would drop her bounty in your lap
    if she knew
        who are you.

         
    Are you the son
         
     of those sour crooks
         
    who stripped America
         
    made promises
         
     to kings
         
     then broke
         
     both promises and kings
         
    and stole
         
     their gold and silver

     The white sun
     shines
     down on poor America and
     counts the cries
     and dries
     the tears and asks
   
      who are you?

               Are you that man
               who sings
               the cante jondo
               that sharp cry that
               reaches for your soul
               to grasp
               some small resemblance
               that you seek in vain

     The white moon
     wont tell
     the secrets of the night
     until she's sure
   
     who are you?

               Are you the man
               who smashed
               the windows of the convent
               burnt
               the churches
               bombed
               a cavalcade of bishops
               and rejoiced in revolution

     The white sun
     shone brown
     thru smoke
     burnt blood dry
     and cracked the city
     like a crypt
     but didn't tell
   
     who are you?

              Perhaps you are the man
              I saw
              before me in the street
              adoring
              the white virgin
              penitent
              with votive candle

     The white moon
     blows kisses
     to the windows
     but
     there are no stars
     in eyes that ask
  
       who are you?

              They talk about the men
              who ran away to Buenas Aires
              when the guns were barking
              and the knives were out
              or are you lying in the ditch
              face down
              your blood
              a dirty river flowing down the hill

     The white sun
     will bleach
     your bones
     and ask
     the wailing wives and daughters
   
     who are you

That shadow on the rock
under a frightened moon
hiding under a pale light
revealing your soul in the dark
    who are you?

Shouting against the racket of the bar
the crash of pictures
the busy noise of the chaotic street
barreling down the road you own, but
    who are you?

Silent behind a mask I cannot see
a song is trying to write you,
the guitar is soft at the end of day
then with a cry it interrupts the night
    but tell me
if I listen behind the notes
will the spaces in between
tell me who you are?

     The white sun
     has found
     your secret
     and breaks it
     on the hard dry ground.

     The white moon
     draws
     silver fingers across the pieces
     The fingers trace the words
         Who Are You?

© John Clare: 1965-2013

Written while wandering around Spain in the mid sixties.