This Jesus Maroto these days with birds in his head, perhaps because one of his daughters has just made him the grandfather of a beautiful girl. To the point that the idea that surrounded him that this would be his last book has dissolved like sugar and now he says that “I have found that vertigo so pleasant, although risky, that one feels not only in publishing but in beginning to welcome a new project.
-Where is the difference (with the title of your book)?
-The difference lies in the book itself. And if I must clarify, in the first and last poems. In fact, the last verse gives the book its title.
-You say that “even writing is not completely free”.
-I wrote this verse a long time ago. It was Gonper, my editor, who reminded me of it. I didn’t ask him why, but I asked myself. And the answer, of course, and I repeat myself, in the pages of the book. It’s my vital state. I’m sorry (laughs), you have to read the book to know.
-Does writing poetry hurt, is it a necessity or does it help you be happier?
-It hurts. It’s a necessity. And it doesn’t really help me to be happy; On the contrary, to be a better person or at least try.
-Among the 31 poems that make up the book, the first one is called Desolación and it is dedicated to your parents. Why?
-I have already said it. In this poem lies an important part of the difference between this book and the previous ones. I had never dared to speak about them like that. Better said, I had never dared to publish this poem written a long time ago. (…in this Spain with broken legs, starving, with fear and shame).
-How often does it dominate the poem and how often does it dominate you?
-We try to achieve a balance that facilitates the relationship (laughs).
-Is it worth writing poetry?
-I don’t know. It seems a mystery to me. And I quote Lorca: “Poetry is the union of two words that one did not suspect could unite and that form something like a mystery.”
-He says in another poem that “it is not good that the poet is forced to remain silent.”
-Yeah. We live in a crazy world where what we call freedom of expression is under more and more threat every day.
-Perhaps he becomes a little catastrophic when he says that “only ignorance has a future.”
-No. Einstein said it: “We are all ignorant.”
-It can also happen that “the truth gets complicated”, right?
-The truth is complicated, it is the title of one of my books. Curiously, in this book I was very free, but not completely, and that is why I wanted to pay tribute to it. And because I like it very much and it is already out of print.
-Are you afraid of the future?
-Not at all. The book is divided into fifteen poems that speak of yesterday. Fifteen today. And only one from tomorrow. I refer to this poem to answer this question unambiguously.
-Between the words enemy and forgiveness, which do you choose?
-I don’t have to choose. It remains between the poem and the reader.
-‘There are times when I don’t see poetry anywhere.’ Is this a social criticism?-It’s a state of mind. I’m not interested in social criticism. I’m leaning more and more towards social commitment. In the poetry that I create and write, of course. And finally, I save one of my favorite verses of all time: Almost Everything Reality, by Ángel González.
-Where do you see beauty?
-I look. I look. And I look again. For example, I observe couples passing by. Borges is quoted on the cover of the book and I repeat it today: “Beauty is that beautiful mystery that neither psychology nor rhetoric can decipher.” Although I would add: Maybe poetry does the trick, right?
