Poems of the Island

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Literature · Subcategory: Literary fragments · Year: 1989 · Authors: Josefina de la Torre

In this poem Josefina de la Torre sings to the Plaza de San Bernardo and transports us to a time that remains only in memory. The place has completely changed and today, still with its laurels, it forms part of the commercial fabric around Triana Street. The poem is part of the poetry collection Medida del tiempo , which was included in the 1989 edition alongside Versos y estampas (1927), Poemas de la isla (1930) and Marzo incompleto (1968).

«Plaza de San Bernardo with its old laurels

and its single-storey houses and that one with the cross...

Dusty pavements sown with reflections

and white façades soaked in light.

A slow tartana crosses the cobblestones

and a sardine seller raises his song.

From the cliff comes a murmur of quarrel

and a piano, in the twilight, has begun to play.

It is the sleepy hour of closed balconies.

The house is silent and over there in the dining room

the clock strikes the hour with melodious tones.

Oh Plaza de San Bernardo! In our hearts

your provincial image keeps its colour.

And the memory haunts you in every corner.»

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