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  • Casas de Adobe
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Casas de Adobe

Humberto Ak’abal

Después de la lluvia
yo caminaba el pueblo,
y en cada charco
se miraban reflejadas
las casas de adobes.

Después de las lluvias
las calles de tierra
eran riachuelos de lodo,
y el pueblo olía a nuevo.


Humberto Ak’abal

from Drum of Stone, Selected Poems (Newtyle: Kettillonia, 2010)

Reproduced by kind permission of the author and publisher.

Tags:

Guatemalan poetry rain short poems villages water

Translations of this Poem

Houses of adobe

After the rains
I walked through the village
and in each puddle
I saw the reflections of
the adobe houses.

After the rains
the earthen streets
were little rivers of mud
and the village smelt new.

Source: from Drum of Stone, Selected Poems (Newtyle: Kettillonia, 2010). Translated by Rosemary Burnett. Reproduced by kind permission of the translator.

About this poem

This poem, representing Guatemala, is part of The Written World – our collaboration with BBC radio to broadcast a poem from every single nation competing in London 2012

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Humberto Ak’abalb.1952

Humberto Ak'abal (born 1952) is a Guatemalan poet whose prolific output in his native Maya K'iche' and in Spanish has won him numerous international awards and honours, including the French order of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and...
More about Humberto Ak’abal

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