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ROBIN SKELTON

Robin Skelton (12 October 1925 – 22 August 1997) was a British-born academic, writer, poet, and anthologist.

Born in Easington, Yorkshire, Skelton was educated at the University of Leeds and Cambridge University. From 1944 to 1947, he served with the Royal Air Force in India. He later taught at Manchester University, where he was a founder member of The Peterloo Group. In 1963, he emigrated to Canada, and began teaching at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

Skelton was an authority on Irish literature. He is well known for his work as a literary editor; he was a founder and editor, with John Peter, of The Malahat Review, and a translator. Known as a practising Wiccan, Skelton also published a number of books on the subject of the occult and other neopagan religions.

Georges Zuk, a purported French surrealist poet, was a heteronym created by Skelton.

Writers he influenced include Jordan Stratford.

REVISTA DA ACADEMIA BRASILIENSE DE LETRAS.  Direção: Antonio Carlos Osorio.  Brasília. No. 10 – Março 1991.  Ex. bibl. Antonio Miranda

The Voices

Voice of Birthday

Robin Skelton (Canada, 1925- )

"Cali me ancient
I have years for teeth
and gnaw the montains.
Every road's my spoor
And every town my droppings.
Keep me tracked.
I go to earth before a
stable door.

I have no strategy
but shame. This earth
cannot protect me
or disguise my smell,
even distracts me
with those kills whose bonés
are trampled in the mud
about the stall.

Yet here for seconds
once I knelt, close-curled,
unraked by hungers,
and here wish to die
if man can dig me out
or find a way
to dowse the cruel
planet in the sky.

AS VOZES

I

VOZ DE ANIVERSÁRIO

"Chame-me antigo.
Eu tenho anos por dentes
e rôo montanhas.
Cada estrada é meu rastro
e cada cidade minhas paradas.
Guarde minha pista.
Eu vou por terra antes da porta do estábulo.

Eu não tenho estratégia
mas vergonha. Esta terra
não pode me proteger
ou disfarçar meu cheiro,
mesmo distrair-me
com esses mortos cujos ossos
estão esmagados na lama
ao redor da estrebaria.

No entanto aqui por segundos
uma vez eu ajoelhei, enroscado,
abatido de fome,
e aqui desejo morrer
se um homem me desenterrar
ou achar um meio
de descobrir o cruel
planeta no céu."

Página publicada em junho de 2019