Visit by Christian Formoso

On Friday, September 30, a well-known young Chilean poet, Christian Formoso, will be coming to Charlottesville.  His visit is co-sponsored by the Live Poets Society and the JMRL’s Central Library.

Christian has won the Pablo Neruda Prize for poetry in his native country.  He will be presenting some of his work at the Central Library’s McIntire Room in downtown Charlottesville, along with his two U.S. co-translators, Terry Hermsen and Sydney Tammarine.  (Christian is bilingual, having earned both of his graduate degrees in the U.S.)  The program will begin at 7 pm; it is free and open to the public.  

Christian, Terry, and Sydney will do a 45-minute reading from Christian’s ambitious collection The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile, moving back and forth between English and Spanish.  Then they will open it up for discussion about the art and challenges of translation, as well as any other questions the audience might have.  

The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile is set in Christian’s hometown of Punta Arenas, which lies along the Strait of Magellan in Chile’s southernmost Patagonia region.  The actual Cemetery of Punta Arenas, a public cemetery, is considered one of the most beautiful in the world, and is a National Monument of Chile.

The book is primarily a series of reflections and dramatic monologues which give voice to different people buried in the cemetery.  Collectively, they add up to a dramatized version of 500 years of Chilean history.  You might think of it as an ambitious Chilean counterpart to Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, crossed with Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues such as “Fra Lippo Lippi” and “My Last Duchess.”  Copies of the book will be available for sale after the program.  

I’m hoping you will be able to attend, and can encourage your friends, colleagues, neighbors, and students to come hear and meet Christian as well.  Please contact me if you have any questions--or any suggestions for more ways to get the word out about this event. 

Tony Russell

Email:  taorivertony@gmail.com

Christian Formoso in the Cemetery of Punta Arenas
Photo by Janina Alveal

Back in the Day

Back in the day  

before the ravages of time and injuries settled into joints

I could squat – 

but I can’t bend those knees that much anymore!

Back in the day

I could have run this 5 K race with you -

or at least most of it!

Back in the day

before the crow’s feet of time

etched a road map on my face,

I could look in the mirror

and see smooth skin, 

and bright eyes

which could read tiny print -

but are now clouded 

with the beginning of cataracts.

Back in the day

before organs sagged and excess weight crept on,

I could travel without a suitcase of supplements and

other personal necessities –

but I am grateful it is not medicines or medical paraphernalia!

And I plan to keep it that way!

I would instantly take back my youth – but only if I could

keep the experience and wisdom I have gained with time!

© Beverly Diane Harner, 2012

York River 5K Race during Estuaries Day 2015
Photos by Jon T. & John G.
from Wikimedia Commons 

The Insides of An Onion

Behind closed doors I write

and think to never show these words

to other eyes.

They are for me alone,

but secretly I long for immortality.

I dream that one day,

when I am but a memory,

some kindred soul will read my poems,

packed away in some old attic trunk

with pictures yellowing in an album, 

and understand the person buried deep within...

smiling always on demand,

but hiding other selves

like the insides of an onion.

© Peg Latham,  2016

One half onion
Photo by Ranveig (talk 1 contribs)
from Wikimedia Commons