Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All’alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!
Giacomo Puccini, ‘Nessun Dorma’
estimado expresidente felicidades por ser peligroso
aquí es primavera echará de menos las flores
echará de menos los cornejos y las azaleas
es peligrosa la paz peligrosa como los terremotos
hay un golfo entre nosotros y hemos olvidado su nombre
un golfo y un mar que no puede cruzar
nos hundimos en un golfo de veneno
usted es una canción en la ópera de nuestros sueños
debemos desterrar su canción su aria
hizo que los partidos de oposición bajaran las armas
es peligrosa la paz
lamentamos que usted se pierda la primavera de nuestro caos
estimado expresidente
hay un golfo entre nosotros
un mar que no puede cruzar
cambiemos el nombre del golfo
cambiemos el nombre de su premio
no venga usted aquí
cambiemos nuestro propio nombre
LINES WRITTEN WHEN LEARNING
OF THE CANCELLATION OF OSCAR ARIAS’S VISA
Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All’alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!
Giacomo Puccini, ‘Nessun Dorma’
dear former president, congratulations for being dangerous.
it’s spring here you’ll miss the flowers
miss the dogwoods and azaleas
peace is dangerous, dangerous like earthquakes
there’s a gulf between us and we’ve forgotten its name
a gulf and a sea you cannot cross
we sink into a gulf of poison
you are a song in the opera of our dreams
we must banish your song your aria
you made the opposition parties lay down their arms
peace is dangerous
we regret that you will miss the spring of our chaos
dear ex-president
there’s a gulf between us
a sea you cannot cross
let us change the name of the gulf
let us change the name of your prize
do not come here
let us change even our own name
Martin Dickinson is the author of four poetry collections: I Am That Road (Beltway Editions, forthcoming, 2025), Life List Notes (Sligo Creek, 2021), together with his wife, poet Nancy Allinson, What a Windstorm Teaches (Sligo Creek, 2019) and My Concept of Time (Finishing Line, 2014). He was poet of the month for May 2015 for the online journal Blue Heron Review. Dickinson’s poems have appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, California Quarterly, Innisfree Poetry Quarterly, and the Russian language weekly Kontinent (in translation) and several other print and online journals. He and Nancy live in Friendship Heights, Washington, D.C.