“In my heart I used to have the thorn of a passion;
one day I ripped it out; I no longer feel my heart”
Antonio Machado
i
In cool passiflorine groves
the poet intones against silence
his heart shredded by the shroud
she wore for the sake of purity
ii
In a sacred wood his crown
bore fruit along the thorny tree
we sojourned there then wandered off
since hearts will stop at nothing
iii
In matters of a cheating heart
we should not lie together
guilt comes with a sadistic prickle
a burr beneath broken vows
iv
In your hand a thorn
throbbed in time to a heartbeat
so slight yet robust enough
to wound wayward flesh
v
In my heart a passion burns
branded by spittle, scorn and fire
it is the cryptic sign of null.
I can no longer feel the thorn
A poem for Open link night @dVerse where anything goes and this was inspired by a translation I read of Machado’s poetry – for their passion, the Spanish poets are amongst my favourite but also perhaps because something is lost in translation which gives the reading a stilted but annunciating tone I’ve tried to emulate here
PoetryPix 
I love the expansion of the quote, and also how you managed to change it so the thorn could be free from pain through passion.
thank you for the interpretation of this conundrum
Oh boy, not sure which would be worse, not to feel via thorn embedded or by it being removed. To lose the feeling is an unbearable outcome.
Laura I love the meticulousness of this and what the reader is left with at the end.
many thanks Lisa- passion is a double edge thorn perhaps!
worth the risk worth the pain as without it is but the sterile plain
I, too, love Spanish language poets, Lorca being my favorite. My Spanish is very poor but I do try to get volumes that show both the original and the translation; sometimes I can see what is different. Anyway, your poem! I adore it. So vivid, so evocative, so fresh. I am not at all familiar with Machado but you can bet your boots I will be rectifying that now. Again, what a remarkable poem you’ve written here. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.
Shay, in WP clothing
what can I say Shay in WP clothing other than how gratifying to have such enthusiastic feedback for this poem – muchas gracias (and I too am trying to teach myself Spanish and find poetry one of the best ways of accessing the language with the original and translation together )
The ambiguity of meanings reflects well the tangle of pain and passion. I’m especially drawn to the multiple images in the second stanza–“in the sacred wood his crown bore fruit” leads in so many directions in my mind. (K)
great comment Kerfe – the ambiguity puzzled even the poet but it just seemed to work since passion can really daze and confuse
It does–always.
I love the inspired quote from Machado and will certainly learn about his work. Superb imagery of the thorn in the 4th and 5th stanza. I appreciate the contrast of feeling that thorn, to the passion burning and not feeling the thorn. Beautiful work Laura.
many thanks Grace – Machado set me off in a direction of seemingly ever decreasing circles akin to that dizzying falling for passion and pain
“I can no longer feel the thorn”
Your closing line is superb, especially since you take us through various thorny scenarios stanza by stanza. I love ” a burr beneath broken vows”.
thank you for your appreciation – actually ‘thorny scenarios’ makes a great subtitle!
You are welcome, Laura.
Pain is the undercurrent of passion, isn’t it?
it does seem so!
The passion comes through, Laura, as well as sorrow. And it makes me wonder, does one no longer feel the heart?
ah its hard to feel that until its broken
Indeed.
breathtaking in its “realness”
thank you Kim as one who knows?
One who has seen
seeing is believing!
Mythical, enigmatic and powerfully expressed.
thank you Dora for those 3 lovely expressions