Salvador Espriu

The Ramon Llull Institute is organizing in New York a bunch of activities during the spring season, in order to show a little bit of the catalan culture. The program titled Made in Catalunya. Catalan Culture in New York embraces exhibitions, performing arts, symposiums and literary events. Last weekend Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith read Catalan Poetry in the frame of this CataluNYa program. Among all the wonderfull poetries they told there is one of my favourites. You can get the translation here. Now that i'm gone away to the north while I read lamentable news from the catalan politics, I often remind Espriu and this poetry.

Oh, how tired I am of my
craven old brutish land,
and how I'd like to get away from it
to the north
where they say people are clean
and noble, learned, rich, free
wide-awake and happy.
Then in the congregation, the brothers would say
disapprovingly: "Like the bird who leaves the nest
is that man who forsakes his place,"
while I, now far away, would laugh
at the law and ancient wisdom
of this, my arid village.
But I must never follow my dream
and I'll stay here till I die.
For I'm craven and brutish too.
And what's more I love, with a
desperate grief,
this my poor,
dirty, sad, unlucky homeland.