H e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s b e r g

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i v e s E d i t i o n

RON RODRIGUEZ

Sponge Tree

––by Vicente Gerbasi

I submitting myself to the solitude

of a sponge tree, stubborn tree

lean wolf, grey-green-grey

with teeth and spines

and hoofs like dark glass.

Indifferent to the hurricane

to the solar tortures

promethean skeleton.

[From Retumba como un sótano del cielo (Rumblings like a cellar from the sky), 1977, by Vecente Gerbasi (1913-1992). Translated by Ron Rodriguez, 2009. Originally published in NHS 2010, http://www.poetspath.com/napalm/nhs10/index.html.]