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Residua

Corta la vida o larga, todo
lo que vivimos se reduce
a un gris residuo en la memoria.
De los antiguos viajes quedan
las enigmáticas monedas
que pretenden valores falsos.
De la memoria sólo sube
un vago polvo y un perfume.
¿Acaso sea la poesía?

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Residue

Life short or long, everything
we live is reduced
to a grey residue in memory.
From the old journeys remain
the enigmatic coins
that pretend false values.
From memory rises only
a vague dust and a perfume.
Perhaps it is poetry?

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Ida Vitale (born 2 November 1923) is a Uruguayan poet, translator, essayist, lecturer and literary critic.

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