Cuando te hablo

Well, it’s time (foolishly?) to publish another of my Spanish language poems. The “I” (yo) of the poem speaks to a “you” (te). That might be a man addressing a woman, a woman addressing a man, or a Quaker silently worshipping God. Following the Spanish poem is a non-poetic English translation. Let’s assume (ahem) that any errors in the Spanish are due to poetic license and not the result of my imperfect knowledge of the language.    
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si yo rezara en la oscuridad
          Y de repente entrara en la iglesia
          Un rayo de luz, una brisa del Cielo.
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si yo subiera una montaña
          Hasta alcanzar la cima sombrada,
          Hasta descansar en el nublado azul.
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si yo temblara del frío
          En la noche invernal
          Y yo viera encender el foco
          Iluminando la comida y el café.
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si me hablaran
          Los latidos del corazón
          Y se perdieran tranquilos
          En el silencio de tu Amor.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if I were praying in the darkness
          And there suddenly came into the church
          A ray of light, a breeze from Heaven.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if I climbed a mountain
          Till I reached the shadowed summit
          Till I rested in the clouded blue.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if I were trembling from cold
          In the winter night
          And saw the light turn on
          Illuminating the food and coffee.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if the beating of my heart
          Were speaking words
          Tranquil but disappearing
          In the silence of your Love. 
 
~ Richard Russell