Girls in Their Summer Dresses - Bilingual Poem With Author Commentary

Men love to eye a beautiful woman; okay, women in general. Some more than others. Their thoughts behind their stares and gawks, however, isn't always expressed, at least not fluently or in a manner that can be defined as romantic. Personally, I'm fine with that, I think most of us women are. But what if there was a man that had, and could articulate, a passion that could melt a woman's body in a moment without her being able to stop herself? And what if it wasn't b.s.? I think the words spoken in Girls in Their Summer Dresses would work on me, one way or the other.

Narrative in poetry is one of the most important aspects and a strong part of the whole. If the images don't agree with the voice, there is a great discomfort for the reader. If the narrator is the writer him or her self, then one has to be true to themselves. If the narrator is not one's self, then it could be a bit more difficult to accomplish. As with most of my poetry, the narrator is someone other than myself. So in order to find the right narrator and the appropriate images that would be spoken by that narrator, the writer needs to make careful decisions.

A woman writing from a man's point of view? Bill Zuback's fine art photograph The Girls in their Summer Dresses brought a favorite Latin American to mind. The voice of inspiration and muse for this poem came from John Leguizamo. After that it was a matter of making his voice come to life.

The use of bilingual speech was both a conscious and conscientious choice. In fact I could see the telling of this narrator's story done in no other way than to meld his two languages, not just for beauty and form, but for the fact that the narrator himself is a bilingual living in America. Choosing to write this poem in a bilingual voice strongly defines the narrator. His passionate thoughts stem from his ancestral and present geography, which consequentially (or inconsequentially, depending on how the reader views it) brings in a stronger and more beautiful cadence when blended.

Just as Aspect of Error and Back Yard Soul-O are in free verse, so is Girls in Their Summer Dresses, however in this last poem, no real punctuation is used. Structure in this poem comes through delicate use of line breaks and sound.

English Version

Hey ladies
I love to watch you
a mirage in your summer dresses
enlighten me with your soft skin
refresh me with your glacé smile
Let me swallow you like the whole of the sun on the desert.
Draw on your belly with course sands my hands
drink you in like cactus milk
an oasis in the still calm
soothing the violent heat waves that rise
in front of the steps of my bodega

Spanish Version

Hey mujeres
me encanta verlas
en el espejismo de sus vestidos de sus vestidos de verano
deleitarme con su piel suave
refrescarme con su sonrisa helado
dejame tragarte como el sol del desierto
dibujar en tu vientre con arena en mis manos
tomarte como leche de cactus
un oasis en la calma
suave de los violentos olas de calor
en frente de los escalones de mi bodega

(Special thanks to Mrs. Stapleton for the Spanish translation.)

Final, Melded Version (with line alterations that take into account sound and message for bilingual sublimation):

Yo chicas

me encanta verlas I love to

watch you en el espejismo

a mirage in your summer dresses

enlighten me with your soft skin

cool me with your glacé smile

I want to swallow you like the whole of del desierto

draw on your belly with course sands my hands

drink you in like cactus milk

un oasis en la calma

the still calm that sooths de los heat waves violentos

that rise in front

of the steps of my bodega

a mirage de sus vestidos de verano

chicas in your summer dresses.