Peruigilium Veneris
Peruigilium Veneris [The Eve of Venus’ Festivities] is a short collection of poems written between 1989 and 1991. They revolve around the figure of Sappho and are touched with an exaggerated culturalism (the central poem was written in Japanese…). Formal unity is present here as an obsession, and I still like some of the findings. However, perhaps I started with this work a dangerous path in poetry: to separate the lyrical voice from the lyrical self and the personal self. To write poetry as one writes a novel is cheating. And it shows. Once I won a second prize in the VI Prize “Ana Abarca de Bolea” I wanted to change the title, and that Aire de liloileras became Peruigilium Veneris, but I only managed to put it as a subtitle. Besides, to top it off, the cover came out with the noun “air” in plural, which I accepted, all said and done.
