Noche de San Juan

Interesting… Evaristo has taken one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, at one of the most beautiful times to be there, and turned it into something dark and ominous.

Bonus points: I couldn’t tell you for sure if the reveling mob that shows up in the last verse is real or imaginary.

NIGHT IN SAN JUAN (1938)
 
Evaristo Ribera Chevremont 
 
 
This night glitters with terrified stars
between monstrous clouds in heaping piles.
In the city, cut off from voices and noises,
you see the lights radiate with fervency.
 
The vessels appear blackish, unreal,
feverish, sleepwalking through their illuminations,
in the dusky bitumen of the canals.
The lights in the water with fine reflections.
 
Its wide beacon projects the strong lantern
over the sea, where the devilish wave curves.
From shore to horizon, the boiling white portends.
The foam shines with the light of the lamp.
 
Music from another time scatters an orchestra.
The rabble simmers, a lively fantasy.
The noisy crowd bursts into the night and makes merry.
Fireworks–fire and kaleidoscopic color.