Polo Sur by Venezuelan poet Maria Teresa Ogliastri and translated as South Pole by local DC poets and translators Yvette Neisser Moreno and Patricia Bejarano Fisher and published by Settlement House, a local publishing company in Arlington, is about a father's journey to the cold and beautiful south pole. The journey, told to his daughter, is a mix of ancient mythology and twentieth century culture. It is an internal journey at first, one of wishes in the everyday world, where courage is only a seed beginning to sprout.
In the second of three parts, aptly titled "I am the Voice of My Own Fear," the recognition of fear and confronting it is required for the courage to grow, and internal preparation for a real journey. By the section's end the journey has begun. Are the icebergs, glaciers, wolves and mountains one of internal journey or are we witnessing the real strides forward into the coldest of continents? Perhaps both.
The third section is one of peace and observation. There is nothing to say and so much to see. Each poem is a fragment of images in the now, titled for the time of day observed. Beauty speaks to the father in pictures. The poems are reminiscent of ancient Chinese poetry, pure images that hold a deeper meaning. Penguins, snow and skies are a thing to behold and take in.
Because the book is a bilingual edition, one doesn't need only be familiar enough with it to see the translations by Moreno and Fisher are simple and very true to the original text. Liberties must surely be taken, but the translators want English readers to see Ogliastri's poetry the way Spanish readers do.
This book will leave readers asking for more while feeling very satisfied at the same time. A destination has been reached, but one doesn't want this elegiac journey to end.
Polo Sur/South Pole is 87 pp and can be ordered at http://www.settlementhouse.us/books/south_pole/.
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