Juan Lamillar

trans. by Dan Bogen

Everday Objects

Only everyday objects exist:
they are the things that free us from death,
the ones most firm in laying out the borders
between reality and the fictitious.
They are temples set up against time,
and, in their fragility, they prevail.
Blue ceramic ink bottles,
old fountain pens, Venetian boxes,
watches that will deny the passing hours.
Only this exists: what stays with me
in the particular magic of this room.
Books and letters, music, photographs.
Only this exists—the window lies.

You can read more of Juan Lamillar’s work in the print edition of The Arkansas International 8.

Born in Seville in 1957, Juan Lamillar is the author of ten books of poetry, including Entretiempo (Renacimiento, 2015), a volume of selected poems. Prizes for his poetry include the Premio Luis Cernuda, the Premio Vicente Nuñez, and the Premio Villa de Rota. 

Don Bogen is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Immediate Song (Milkweed, 2019), and the translator of Europa: Selected Poems of Julio Martínez Mesanza (Diálogos, 2016). His recent poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, the Yale Review, and other journals. His website is www.donbogen.com.