Nelly Fonseca Recavarren
Nelly Recavarren Fonseca was a brave artist who faced social standards of her time on the basis of a conviction on the real thing. Each of her poems challenges us to unravel the mystery of her true identity; even her enormous talent made sure that the time to become faithful guardian of the secret which involved her real nature.
Nelly was born in La Libertad, Peru in 1922 (some historical sources date her birth in 1920 and others until 1914). Very young, at nine years old, as a result of a fall down the stairs, her spine was affected, what soon led her to a wheelchair. Since then she changed her name to Carlos Alberto Fonseca, wears men's clothes, has short hair and adopts a new identity. Testimonials from close people say that the last stage of her life, after being operated on a tumor, she dressed again as a woman.
Her poetic production is extensive and includes titles such as Morning Roses (1934); Harbingers of the future (1936), Light on the Path (1938), a work that was awarded the Gold Medal by the City Hall of Lima; the poem America (1938), Voices of America (1940); Sower of stars (1942); intimate Preludes (1945), Juan Carlos Croharé (1947), Herod and Bethmoora, who faces the sea (1949), among other dramatic poems. She also published crystal spikes and sleep Root, both in 1955 under her real name. She left unpublished the book amazed sailboat, which ended before she died (1963), but it went astray.
In all her books of poetry, Nelly shows modernist verse developed with good management of rhyme and meter. In several of her works we can find a little story, which highlights the precision of metaphors. Besides being a poet, Nelly excelled as a journalist and cultural promoter. She was awarded as the First Prize and Gold Medal in the VIII Liniers Contest of Argentina in 1937; she won the First and Third Prize in Tribute to the American Mother of Havana in 1940. She is also the author of the pre-military anthem, the anthem of the Rotary Club and the Hymn to Barranco, Lima’s district where she lived all her life.
We will never know if this also implied literary transvestism or transvestism of identity, but it is clear that Nelly was a brave person who challenged the society of her time; she gave us her word and conviction to believe in life, literature and for the authenticity of what anyone really wants to be. The mystery of her identity may be a secret that the time has robbed us, but her image and poetry can keep her memory alive.
We share one of her poems as an invitation to read and know her work:
The latest Centaurs
This centaur was in love
Without presenting whom. Spring
Untied his finery on the meadow,
And wafted perfumed
Something like a breath of fire...
It was the claim of Love ... beings
Surrendered her scepter of sweetness
As the largest power of powers,
And it was all sighs and pleasures
And kisses of passion in the bush
Satyrs went on the prowl
After the shimmering screen of foliage,
And his lust improvised a bed
In the cool fern garlands
Or under the green canopy of branches...
An explosion of song and aromas
Wrapped the centaur love...
The doves cooed the happiness,
And even hinted the hair from the pomas
The sweetness of a rosy complexion...
More than once with envious eyes,
Near the fountain of calm lymph,
Hr heard a melodious sound of kisses,
And the troubled witnessed romps
From the lascivious fauns and nymphs...
One afternoon, also on the way
He was surprised by a naiad naked
But he restrained her impulse
Fearing to hurt the alabaster body
Under the heat of his rough caress.
Once lurking furtively
Crouched in the shadow of a rock,
But the throng of nymphs, smiling,
He fled through the woods flourishing
On the rhythmic swing of her helmet.
And he, who in the prime of his career
It challenged the chariot of Aeolus,
Was humiliated, first,
And, like a kiss or even,
Finally found himself bewildered and alone.
And in turn, troubled yet
Perceived in the fronds rustling
Another young centaur laughing
With gleam of malignant joy
In his frustrated romantic longings
Sly and subtle, that laughter
Vibrated like a mockery in his ears,
And, feeling cheated his complaint,
He threw himself eagerly behind their mark
Under the large flowering trees
The centaur escaped wayward and playfully,
A cry challenging and acute
And, the intoxication of the highest rapture,
Crossed both by the thick forest,
In a thunderous gallop and rude...
Formworking the logs in their path,
Gleaning the suit of the hydra
Chopping branches at sunset,
And a strong spark jumping
At the stroke of his footsteps on the stones...
And so, in the mad excitement of the game,
Saved without feeling the thick,
And, wrapped in a breath of fire,
Always at a gallop, threw then
On the green carpet of the plain...
To the beat of this barbarous harmony
There awoke early the valley,
And, the last show of energy,
Already wet with sweat effort
The rump of the gallant fugitive...
Suddenly, as elastic snake
Saw the emergence of high rocks
The light tresses a torrent
Where the brilliant sun lit
Its iridescent crystal comb...
And, in a burst of arrogance sum,
Rushed in quick race
And, overcoming fatigue that overwhelms
He broke the fans of the foam
To reach the placid shores...
After him with sudden delight,
Perhaps forgotten your complaint,
Another centaur came to swirl,
And dabbling in diamond dust,
Crossed, breathless, for the same footprint...
And, beneath the whispering pines,
Overtook, surrendered to the assault,
And the power of their muscles vibrant
He fell on his haunches quivering
In the parable of a graceful leap...
And imprisoning the muscular torso
Among his strong young arms,
He looked faint, drunk with joy,
By feeling the neck voluptuous
The aggression of manly kisses ...
