The following poems are from Julio Fabián’s 2022 poetry collection El viaje hacia Andrómeda (Fallidos Editores, Medellin). They are translated here into English for the first time.

The Journey to Andromeda

I too found myself with the future in my path
as I deciphered the iridescent enigmas
that coiled fantastical drunken whirlwinds.
I calculated lunar phases and at the point where
gravity gave way I found
the truth suspended, sparkling and transparent,
I discovered the path to Andromeda.
What was the sea in its immensity before
the daring face that guided me in innocence?
The cold over the mountain and the underworld in ruins.

I saw in the centre of a cell a lethargy,
I encountered hundreds of Daedalus searching for
the same thing as I, and they all bore the stubble
of igneous flowers on their cheekbones.
I was beaten down with austere loneliness,
my blood flowed out,
on the shuttle journey I faced
the most wonderful disappointment,
I sensed in the rarest of times
the black curvature of space.

I have yearned for the hope beyond my dreams.
I have recognised the dimensions of the quasars
as I tried to decipher the shapes of wallflowers.
I was afraid and I calmed myself before the trees.
In distress I asked my shadow
if I still had love in my breast enough
to face the unknown. Now I can write:
only with love could I remain standing.

Sometimes, in the sea of fate
every bleak future
takes me back to Andromeda.
It is when I versify these thoughts
that I find myself
and I lose myself once more,
the expanse that remains
before I reach that distant place.