100 Refutations: Day 28

Nightfall

When the sun, behind the mountain, is extinguished
and twilight says, “silence,”
and the mists shroud the valley,
of the sun for mourning;

of the afternoon, in brief agony,
when, upon ribs, moans the wind,
like lighthouses on high, are lit
trembling stars.

By their light, veiled
by the subtle gauze of daydreams,
I divine another earth, happy
peaceful and mysterious.

And on the road to the dreamt-up country,
A star—my star—from afar,
Seems to light up the longed-for
shore of heaven.

Bios

Remigio Crespo Toral

Remigio Crespo Toral (1850-1939) was a poet and politician who became influential in both spheres, known as one of the most important Ecuadorian poets while also serving as "congress president" in Ecuador. He was an expert in jurisprudence, history, and literary criticism.

Lina M. Ferreira C.-V.

Lina M. Ferreira C.-V. earned MFAs in creative nonfiction writing and literary translation from The University of Iowa. She is the author of Drown Sever Sing from Anomalous Press and Don’t Come Back from Mad River Books, as well as editor, with Sarah Viren, of the forthcoming anthology Essaying the Americas. Her fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translation work has been featured in journals including Bellingham ReviewChicago ReviewFourth GenreBrevityPoets & Writers, and The Sunday Rumpus, among others. She won Best of the Net and Iron Horse Review’s Discovered Voices Award, has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, and is a Rona Jaffe fellow. She moved from Colombia to China to Columbus, Ohio to Richmond, Virginia, where she works as an assistant professor for Virginia Commonwealth University. Visit www.linawritesessays.com.

English translation copyright (c) Lina M. Ferreira C.-V., 2018.