Carmen Tafollax
A Celebration of Life for Isabel Casillas Sánchez with words from Pablo Neruda and reflections from Carmen Tafolla
July 3, 2021 at Casa de Cuentos
When Graciela first asked me to say a few words for Isabel, OF COURSE I said yes. I could not say no. When Graciela asks, like when Isabel dreamed, there was no “No” in the world of justice. But I knew I did not have sufficient words to honor so great a woman as Isabel. I knew immediately that I would search for some great poem by Pablo Neruda, or Gabriela Mistral, that would express our grief, our loss, our joy, our celebration of her life.
But there was none. Nothing could say it all. So, I kept searching. Finding a line here, and a phrase there that said some of it. Finally, I pulled these lines together, con gratitud a Pablo Neruda, knowing that no one poem would be enough, so I gathered lines from– not one but– TEN of Neruda’s poems of love and loss and rebirth of life, versos en el español bello que ella apreciaba, and to complete them from our rinconcito of a perspective, a whispered dialogue in English, from me, on the right column. —Carmen Tafolla
Neruda excerpts
Eras la boina gris y el corazón en calma. En tus ojos peleaban las llamas del crepúsculo.Y las hojas caían en el agua de tu alma.
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ojos adentro, adentro
del escondido resplandor,
callados
como una profecía
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Ay que pasión la que cantaba
entre la sangre y la esperanza…
el mundo quería nacer….
Se levantaron las ciudades…
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…tus ojos se cerraron como dos alas grises.
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… fue duro renovar
la sonrisa de la esperanza:
…y en verdad pareció imposible
rellenar de nuevo la tierra
con tantos huecos que dejó
la dentellada del desastre…
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…pero una permanencia de piedra y de palabra la ciudad como un vaso se levantó en las manos,
un muro…de tanta vida, la rosa permanente.
…quedó la exactitud el alto sitio de la aurora humana.
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Puedo escribir los versos mas tristes esta noche.
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Irás, iremos juntos por las aguas del tiempo.
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Algo queda acercandonos en la luz de la vida
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Voy a vivir otra vez…
me sonríe la boca:
me levanto porque
ha salido el sol.
Porque ha
salido
el sol.
Tafolla’s reflections
Yes, I remember you in your beret.
It was the early 1990s, at an event to
help others, claro. That was you – always seeking to help others.
A quiet dove of grace,
emanating strength
your eyes were all sparkly with
care
and passion
a deep and peaceful ocean of commitment and
causa.
At every event, lending your presence, your support, your voice
We knew the years were passing, life taking its tax on you, in your 80s, then your 90s, then late 90s,
but still you danced
modeled love, protested, gathered signatures, applauded, encouraged.
A pillar of strength on which we all leaned. So we did not care to, could not bear to… think of your death
until the day we knew comes to us all came.
but even grief, even death
could not diminish, the hope, you left within us all, the mark you made, the faith you lent.
My mind fills with the memory,
just a moment on stage we had asked you to act, just cross the stage, pretending to be the Curandera, reaching out with her hierbitas, her huevo for the mal de ojo, her gentle hand extending over the sick.
“Just cross the stage,” we said,
“while the narrator reads the poem.” But then you turned, before you left the stage, and faced the audience, and made the sign of the cross to them, blessing them,
and we all stood dumbstruck, shivering at the power of the huge wave that rolled over us, at what
we had received.
Your presence gave so much.
What will we do now,
with your empty chair?
Pero Pablo, también puedo cantar
puedo celebrar su permanencia.
Aquí.
Yes, We will flow together
through the waters of time, both
death and time mere details
in the universe of love
and faith, gracia and esperanza.
We hear your voice, reassuring us
But, Hasn’t Our sunshine left?
Our sunshine has risen. To a new day, a new way of giving us esperanza.
-Carmen Tafolla, July 3, 2021.