Eros is More

Emotionally and philosophically, Gonz%C3%A1les Iglesias writes with a heart-first conviction and tells us it's time to "trust once more in the old metaphors," finding a parallel for love and Eros in the term known on sugar plantations as fire break: "fire that's lit,/ in case of a fire." The Spanish poet's attempts at deep thought can make for bumpy platitudes%E2%80%94"Time begets decades/ the same way Power generates horses"%E2%80%94but he also lands on several moments of sinister clarity and originality, as when he describes a body as "sweetly fugitive," or when he notices in a cemetery how "instantly/ the irreverent squirrels run/ over the graves." If readers find themselves scratching their heads at the translations, Bauer isn't necessarily to blame. When a young man lost on a river bank is described as "like a/ unique/ creature," one wonders if Gonz%C3%A1les Iglesias isn't better off with the old metaphors too, notwithstanding the compelling music of "una/ %C3%BAnica/ criatura." But what's so difficult about Gonz%C3%A1les Iglesias isn't the language barrier or his fondness for Latin allusion, it's that his inclusive view of eros, which insists that "there is something inside love that belongs/ to this world," also points a finger at you and says "I've done my part." (Sept.)