Two poems by Luis Felipe Fabre

I came across a translation of some of Fabre's poems in the ACTION YES online quaterly. They come from his latest book, Cabaret Provenza. I find it great that there are currently translations of such a good poet available for a non-spanish speaking audience. Mostly they are good, but they could be improved. I translated "Investigación de mercado" once again, without trying to look at Stumpf's version, but he obviously made some good choices which are considered. It would be fruitful to make a comparis0n between both versions.

Market Research

A coin, for God's sake, a coin,
for money is the beggar's theme and the beggar
is the theme of this research: had the beggar that money
would he speak of less worldly matters? But here's
a tinkling inside a tin
of sardines without sardines. And sardines?
Cheap and nutritious: rich in iron, vitamin A and phosphorus.
A gourmet would say the sardine has a light flavour to:
a) Dented metal. b) Rancid money. c) A beggar's breakfast.
Is a beggar basically a coin bank?

Both poems translated here come from one of the best series in the book, also entitled "Cabaret Provenza".

The Virgin and the Stone

That woman holding a stone could mean something like this:
the Virgin and the Stone: the weight of the world has been announced to her.
She bears a stone like others bear a cross. A cross:
esp. the youngest tree in the landscape: artificial tree
whose fruit is a natural carcass. The stone is heavy like an announced child:
the stone is heavy like pregnancy: stones are not dead
stones have never been alive: stones are something to be borne. Stones will be borne, but meanwhile
let us rebuild the temple word by word. A stone:
a stone falling: a broken stone is not two stones.

Luis Felipe Fabre was born in Mexico City (1974). His latest book Cabaret Provenza has been recently published (2007) in one of the most important publishing houses in México, Fondo de Cultura Económica. It is a response to the poetic movements that look for a metapoetic and largely pretentious way of writing poetry.