Couplets for Barcelona by Ali Znaidi

Some songs and stories make me dream of you—“such a beautiful horizon.”

The wind will make my ship sail to you even without using a mizzen.

I’ll sing to you that beautiful song of Queen,

while dreaming of your calm sea, so serene:

………………………………………

Barcelona - such a beautiful horizon

Barcelona - like a jewel in the sun

Por ti sere gaviota de tu bella mar

Barcelona - suenan las campamas

Barcelona - abre tus puertas al mundo

If God is willing

-if God is willing

If God is willing

Friends until the end

Viva! Barcelona!

Oh, Barcelona! You are a poem written by the seductive Mediterranean Sea.

You make me spellbound. What can I do with thee?

I can only succumb to your sun soaked beaches and vivid trees.

I like to be soothed. I like to inhale your fragrant balmy breeze.

Your beauty casts a spell on me. It infiltrates into my heart and even into my kidney.

Joan de Déu Prats once called you “the city of the gardens with chimney.”

Oh, Barcelona! I see you a gorgeous mesmerising Mediterranean bride

You are enfolded in beauty, charm and pride.

Oh, Barcelona! Can I have the honour to be your knight

even for just one month and a fortnight?

Oh, Barcelona! You stand so loftily between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs.

To you I send millions of kisses or “besos”.

“Oh, Barcelona I am so eager to come to you!” I said this even to a skylark.

How nice to have a stroll around the Gothic area or a walk around the Labyrinth Park!

In the narrow streets of the Gothic area I love to lose myself.

I like to have a drink and tapas in Born, while listening to an old man telling a story of an elf.

The “Boquería” market and the boutiques in Gràcia have their own charm.

I would love to have a coffee there, while reading Homage to Catalonia, not Animal Farm.

Oh, Barcelona! You are a city that gets me hooked and makes me spellbound.

I like to go to the Palace of Music to listen to the sweetest sound.

How nice to be in the Gothic Quarter or in Las Ramblas shopping street

contemplating the amazing architecture, while listening to buyers’ shuffling feet!

Oh my God, what a heavenly sight to see, and what marvels to relish!

What beauties to enjoy, and what a marvellous city to cherish!

Oh, Barcelona! Poets have written your name on papers of gold.

Only beauties are bestowed on you by the Lord.

 

Written Summer 2011