On the Other Shore

By Juan Ramón Jiménez

All night long
the birds have been
singing their colors to me.
Not the colors
of their morning wings
in the cool air of suns rising.
Not the colors of their evening breasts
in the embers of suns setting.
Not the colors
of their everyday beaks
extinguished at night,
as the familiar colors
of leaves
and flowers are extinguished.
Other colors,
primeval paradise
completely lost by man,
the paradise
the flowers and birds
so enormously know.
Flowers and birds
that come and go perfuming,
encircling the whole orb.
Other colors,
of the unchangeable paradise
that man travels in his dreams.
All night long
the birds have been
singing the colors to me.
Other colors
which have in their other world
and which they bring out at night.
Some colors
I have seen, quite awake,
and where they are I well know.
I know whence
the birds have come
to sing for me in the night.
I know whence,
crossing the winds and the waves
they came singing their colors to me.


How I found it
I smothered myself in this poem. I was reading to my youngest who was having a restless night and I don’t recall reading Jiménez before ever. But this poem, especially when read aloud, has impact. I read it through three or four times and just felt the weight of the words, the enormity of the author’s experience.

Why I love it
1. Synesthesia. I use it in my writing. I’ve experienced it in life and the colors of birdsongs is perfect. I also work with kids who experience synesthesia.
2. I love that this poem made me see, feel, and hear colors without even the mention of one color.
3. I’ve been an expatriate many times over and I know the emotions expressed here (Jiménez writes about the birds of his native land while living in the US.) There is that faint sense of “disconnect” I’ve felt before when two worlds collide.
4. I love how Jiménez moved beyond isolation and longing for home to a sense of privilege. The birds are singing for him. Perhaps this is because of their shared homeland? He’s seen them before, speaks their language. Thus through the poem, the experience of birdsong, he has transported himself his status as a foreigner (outsider) to one who can see the bird song (the only insider.)

Making sense of life
This poem makes sense of my life because I work with people whose senses are unique. It helps me put into perspective living as an expat. Living in a foreign land, one sometimes longs for a taste (or song) from home. It reassures me that though I’m a foreigner here, I’m part of the vast sphere of nature. It reminds me of how easy it is to experience nature –the dance of a butterfly, sunprints in the sky, or the song of a bird. Because I can see, hear, feel, think, and remember…I am not alone.