El ombú desterrado
Enrique Infante
Reviewed by Anna Francisca Rodas Iglesias & Translated by Nianna Gustovich
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With the rhythm and the weight of their words, the poems on the interior of El ombú desterrado tell about man in movement, unified with the Earth that he inhabits. The strong presence of an ancestral Homeland, its history, its beliefs, and its language creates a labyrinth of verses whose intense condensed images shed a clairvoyant light on another liberation from the past…«visito el pacífico de Pachacamac/ y nado con mis pies congelados en fuego/ de tanto andar mientras que con mirada azuzada/ Inti/ me arma de valor para seguir mis caminos» [I visit the peaceful Pacific of Pachacamac/and I swim with feet frozen in fire/from walking endlessly while Intí's intense gaze/equips me with valor to continue my trajectory]. The poem, «la casa es la sombra del árbol» speaks to us and in its profound truth resounds the poetic voice of Enrique Infante. With strong latency, the cadence of the ancestral tongue fuses with the rhythm of a high-wire walker who sustains the wire over a fire between yesteryear and the present towards a place of continuous beginning. The symbols and images imbued with memory where the echo intensifies the trace: «finalmente/ el comienzo/ ese dolor a/ soledad en/ millones de nombres» [finally/the beginning/ that immense pain/ of loneliness amongst/ millions of names], about which the poet transports his readers by a call not to adapt to avoid being consumed as an act of sacrifice to their own anguish and fears. |
Freedom, true freedom, can well be found in another certainty marked by a conviction of reflection: «una cosa es absoluta/ irse/ pero/ una cosa es/ mentira/ quedarse [One thing, is sure, / to leave/ but/ it’s another, / a deception, / to remain]. I read between the lines, no doubt, of a genesis wrapped in a millenniums-old shadow, not free from philosophy, to create the seed of a tree predestined to become the poem.
Powerful alchemy surrounds the associations of the interior images of this book of poetry much like the amauta [Incan sage], José María Arguedas, in his book Todas las sangres [“Every Blood” / All the races], made us feel that it is necessary to recognize ourselves in the history of our ancestors and in our peoples to remain human.
Enrique Infante (Lima, Peru, 1972) is a Peruvian musician, composer, writer, and actor based in Houston. He studied music theory, business administration and Taekwondo. El ombú desterrado (The banished ombú) is his first poetry book. He has been included in several anthologies such as De una a siete (compendium of stories, 2013) - Pukiyari Editores, and Frescuras e insolencias (compendium of poems, 2018) - Sociedad de Escritores. He has attended multiple poetry, narrative and creative writing workshops and has participated in various festivals such as the New York International Book Fair (2021), and recently The Río Grande Valley International Festival (2023). His book was recently featured at la Feria Internacional del Libro de Madrid (2023).
El ombú desterrado is a forthcoming publication by Editorial Verbum.
Powerful alchemy surrounds the associations of the interior images of this book of poetry much like the amauta [Incan sage], José María Arguedas, in his book Todas las sangres [“Every Blood” / All the races], made us feel that it is necessary to recognize ourselves in the history of our ancestors and in our peoples to remain human.
Enrique Infante (Lima, Peru, 1972) is a Peruvian musician, composer, writer, and actor based in Houston. He studied music theory, business administration and Taekwondo. El ombú desterrado (The banished ombú) is his first poetry book. He has been included in several anthologies such as De una a siete (compendium of stories, 2013) - Pukiyari Editores, and Frescuras e insolencias (compendium of poems, 2018) - Sociedad de Escritores. He has attended multiple poetry, narrative and creative writing workshops and has participated in various festivals such as the New York International Book Fair (2021), and recently The Río Grande Valley International Festival (2023). His book was recently featured at la Feria Internacional del Libro de Madrid (2023).
El ombú desterrado is a forthcoming publication by Editorial Verbum.
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