For Susana, the Saint James way rhymes with Poetry!
Susana Porras is a young American poet, inspired and inspiring. She is an adventurer at heart. Passionate about travel, she has traveled all over Europe and Central America, rooting both in the south of France and in Guatemala. Today, in addition to English, the American, she is fluent in French and Spanish.
He is also a very committed and influential person in his country. She has fought for many years to rebuild and revitalize neighborhoods in her hometown of Pasadena, California.
Graduated in Sociology, Susana Porras is a person who is interested in people, culture and beyond all cultures. For her, life is a long apprenticeship. She wishes to draw on multiple experiences both in her country and abroad. This is why in 2010, Susana drew up her "to-do-list".
Walking the paths of Saint James was on her wish list, but she intended to embark on this adventure only when she reached retirement age. It was when her 73-year-old father expressed his desire to take it eight years later that she immediately put this project at the top of the pile of challenges. She knew, however, that it would not be easy to follow him, because he is used to walking long distances every weekend. Out of love and admiration for him, she still decided to accompany him on the famous Camino Frances, a route that links Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the Pyrenees in France to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in Spain. .
Shortly before this great initiatory journey, the idea of writing poems during his pilgrimage came to him. Susana tells me that it is not just any type of poetry. She chose the Shakespearean sonnet, with its 14 lines of ten syllables, which seemed to her to be the most perfect form of writing, the most pleasant to read, both short and detailed. To give me an example, Susana reads to me aloud, a short excerpt from her book "To Compostela and beyond " :
Photo credit: Susana Porras
Sonnet 8
On the Way to Pamplona June 5, 2018—19 km (11.8 mi.)
The peaceful tranquility of our walk,
Shattered by the bustle of modern life.
We gather with new friends and make small talk
About the region’s political strife.
We do as Hemingway and his friends did,
But opt for coffee instead of red wine
And find pleasure in staying off the grid
As we hear tales more engaging than mine.
We run and dodge imaginary bulls,
The unnerving feeling of facing death,
The slight chance of being trampled by hooves,
The warm, moist, forceful exhale of their breath.
We leave our handkerchiefs and grab our poles
To put more kilometers on our souls.
Susana Porras
Susana then describes to me how this idea gradually gained ground:
"I knew this trip with my father was going to be a once in a lifetime experience. When we got back to the Country, I wanted to have a log of our trip, which I could consult later and easily share with my friends and family."
Suzana wanted to express herself with her words in her own way, as she explains to me during our discussion: "I remembered the poetry I read as a child. My favorite bedside book was by Shel Silverstein," Where the Sidewalk Ends ". I loved reading and re-reading this fun and original collection of poems. I must have looked at these pages over a hundred times, until the librarian called me back and said," Susana , you know we have other books in the library, don't you? "I must have this well-worn copy still at home by the way. Passionate about writing, I thought it would be the best way for me to communicate my emotions and my feelings during these 800 kilometers covered on foot. These 39 days of walking have radically changed my life. That is why I would like to pass on my experience today to other people who would consider one day to embark on this path.Before starting this journey, I consulted a wide variety of books, videos and articles. My biggest inspiration for this trip was John Brierley's book "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago: St. Jean - Roncesvalles - Santiago". Thanks to the many stops and visits recommended by this author, I was able to plan my route and book charming little guesthouses and hotels. The 39 sonnets I wrote describe most of these stages: the Spanish provinces of Navarre, La Rioja, Burgos, Palencia, León, Lugo and La Coruña, so many beautiful places forever etched in my memory that bear witness to the great diversity of landscapes and geography of Spain. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words and it is true that I have fond memories of this trip, whether with these majestic mountain ranges, these sunny plains or even these forests straight out of a children's storybook! "
For Susana, as for me, the Camino de Santiago is a beautiful parable to life, a moment of meditation for oneself and of openness to others, a moment of inspiration and expiration, of exploration and discovery, like she describes it to me later:
"My biggest surprise was to observe the variety of vegetation and flowers. In the films and images I had seen of the Way of St. James, the landscape was however at times so arid. With my father. , we had the chance to make our pilgrimage after a particularly rainy season, which produced an explosion of colors and assortment of scents. Thus, we were able to walk under the green trees, admire the flourishing vines, the cherry trees. and fig trees weighed down by the weight of their fruit. "
Today Susana Porras has wonderful memories of it and willingly plunges into her book "Towards Compostela and beyond". She remembers it, like it was yesterday. At the end of our interview, she told me about her writing ritual: “I composed the 39 original sonnets on the way in 39 days. After each step, I wrote a sonnet before falling asleep. After running 25-30km daily, you can imagine how hard it was for me to concentrate, but I was determined to take on this challenge! Subsequently, the process of transforming the 39 sonnets from a long version to a "book format" took me about a year of work. The presentation notes at the bottom of the page required my greatest attention. They were necessary to provide the reader with the best possible understanding of the stages and the journey. "
Literary reviews :
- by Kathleen E. Jenkins, author of the book "Walking the Way Together: how Families Connect on the Camino de Santiago".
"Susana Porras' sonnets ignite the senses and capture the rhythm of a day on the road to Saint James".
- by Thelma T. Reyna, author of the book "Dearest Papa: A Memoir in Poems"
“To describe a life-changing journey entirely in sonnets, as Susana did, is a unique and wonderful achievement. "
- by Christopher Nyerges, author of the book "of Extreme Simplicity and How to Survive Anywhere"
“Here we have the sweet poetic verse artfully interspersed with the details of a tour guide. "
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