Ambició

Sobre el nus perfecte
de la juventud,
aturada serva't,
vida meva. Pugui
de la suma exacta
del cabal hagut
no llevar-ne encara
unitat ni zero.
Que la força densa
que domina en mi
posi a cada anyada
la mateixa inèrcia.
I passin les tardes
en un bell seguir,
com doll que refresca
el quintà i l'obaga

─────────────

High Hopes

Here on the very
nub of youth,
stay put,
life of mine.
I would not subtract
a single jot
from just this amount
of flow.
Let the sheer force
of my solidity
reap, each harvest,
the same inertia.
And may my afternoons slip by
in sweet pursuits, like a spring
refreshing the home terrain
the shady, north-facing slopes.

Clementina Arderiu. The compound heart : selected poems. 2019

Poems in Catalan 

Translated by Julia Dale