Chiaroscuro: Poetry Translated into Italian, Spanish and French

by Ayo Gutierrez

The word chiaroscuro is Italian for light and shadow. It is one classic technique used in the works of artists like Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and da Vinci. It refers to the use of light and shadow to create the illusion of light from a specific source shining on the figures and objects in the painting.Chiaroscuro is a volume of poetry with a formidable fluidity and clarity of expression, and the expressive instruments are written in a remarkable meditative tone. The choice of a term that designates a graphic and pictorial process with which to obtain the rendering of volumes, perspective and the depths of the image by gradually rendering shadows and light as the title of the volume is most inspired. Each poem of the author reaches the highest thresholds of the lyrical art through the finesse of the landscape drawing, the fragility of the chromaticity of the words, and the purity of the feelings dominated by the candor of wise discoveries with a great capacity to emphasize the concrete. The lyrical vein of the poems is also very finely exploited, with a special charm of evocation.Chiaroscuro is not just another poetry book that we usually browse through and in a few days, the experience would be somewhere in the backburner of our routine humdrum.Chiaroscuro is the kaleidoscopic microcosm of metaphorical munificence. It is birthed to infuse bountiful courage, and experiential attributes in you, both as a reader and as a writer. It is multifarious, in terms of the way it branches out, as you flip page after page, through some pages you will joyously grab its ethereal magic, through some pages you will swing in its hammock that girdles both azure and abyss, while you are smitten by its enchanting, unyielding spirit. Ayo is all about courage, living life to the fullest, and singing songs of her creation. Chiaroscuro succeeds on every level with insightful memory, optimism for the future, and a clearly expressed knowledge and understanding of today’s world.

245 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2020

About the author

Ayo Gutierrez


Ayo Gutierrez is a TV personality, author, editor, and professional speaker. She authored several poetry books including Yearnings: Collected Poetry,and Evocare. She also co-authored Amazon’s bestselling motivational book entitled Almost is the Same as Never.

Ayo loves to read, write poetry, travel, and play the piano. She is a member of Toastmasters International and Zonta International.

She will release two books this year entitled Chooseday and You Too Can Write: A Complete Guide for Writers.

Reviews

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

'I wish to find a playground of rainbows: prisms of all colours,
when I traverse these dusty high roads.'

First of, here's a book of poetry which, written primarily in English, nevertheless also contains its translations in Spanish, Italian, and French. The French translation was done by myself, so, obviously, you can call me biased with that one! Yet...

Yet...There is a reason why I accepted to translate it: I love Ayo Gutierrez's poetry. When she first approached me to request me to be her French translator, I quite didn't know what to say. On the one hand, I felt privileged and honoured to be acknowledged by such a talented polymath (besides being a poet, she is also a publisher and a book coach -check her 'Ink Your Legacy' writing courses...). Yet, on the other hand, I was fully aware of the challenge ahead and so pondered: would I be up to the task? Maybe I failed, or maybe I succeeded. Those reading English and French will make their own decision. One thing is certain, though, is that Ayo Gutierrez's poetry is unique.

Her style is deeply lyrical. Her language intimately figurative. Her images are vivid, with a dash of symbolism which sustain complex metaphors, parading to offer intricate and puzzling, arresting, visions. 'Chiaroscuro' is an Italian term referring to the contrast between light and dark used most commonly in painting (think about Caravaggio's work...) and, indeed, this is exactly what Ayo Gutierrez's poetry is all about here: an interplay between the luminous and the obscure, where darkness itself can act as a powerful enlightening force. Her writing is limpid; open enough, in fact, for the reader to put his or her own meaning into verses those delineation are strikingly unusual, yet never distracting.

'My writing isn't supposed to be a butterfly of adverbs and adjectives.
It is physics -moving parts.'

Well, I hope such 'moving parts' will move you too, both metaphorically and literally, for they surely moved me! A beautiful, beautiful collection.

[Rosario Villaluz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chiaroscuro is a beautifully and soulfully written collection of poems by Amazon best-selling author Ayo Gutierrez.
What is more exciting and amazing with this collection is the translation of the English poems to Spanish, Italian and French. Ayo’s gift of poetry undeniably resonates beyond horizons and across borders.
The author’s style employed in every poem will surely leave readers amazed and delighted. Ayo’s deep sense of reflection and awesome views on life, emotions, relationships, and other valuable topics made her poems likable and inspiring. While every poem in the book is unique, the following poems left me with so much euphoria and inspiration.
Her brilliant thoughts embodied in the tanka poems in this collection motivated me to further look for beauty amidst any adversities that may come along the way.

I am beginning to appreciate the beauty of impermanence. “Mono no aware”, a Japanese term which means “the pathos of things”, or “the ahh-ness of things”. It is our awareness of the transience of all things and our heightened appreciation of their beauty.

A seed of idea
Falls into the grey furrows
Of the human brain
Its sprouts bloom up in heaven
Its bloodstained roots burrow deep.

Ayo always have that talent of finding the perfect words and sensibility for any topic at hand. This masterpiece in her poem, “Scentsibility” is no exception:

There is something about you tonight
A masterful amalgamation of
Protruding lies
I can smell them fine
You blow kisses in the air and the dandelion scatter them in haste
Ravenous, surrogate lovers waiting
For a morsel of affection

As I carefully reflect on every poem, I was lulled with the beauty of this particular poem:

Murmuring Weirs

I hear voices exploding into tiny staccato cries-
Stilted fragments of reality
Which recklessly soar and plunge between extreme registries

Once I started reading every line of the poem in this collection, it left me with no chance of stopping flipping the pages. Moreso, with this poem, “Open Space”, that I need more space to contain the enchantment filled with “ows” and “ahhs” to every word I read.

Tonight, the sky is pregnant with bulbous clouds
Kiss me now before it rains
My arms have become gnarled tangled tendrils and my shinbones crackle in pain
How many droughts must I endure as my lips bleed against my silken handkerchief

I cannot stop recounting and rereading every poem in this collection. Ayo truly has inked her legacy. And her tribe has increased. Tremendously. And I am just one of the many souls she has immensely blessed with. Her immortal pen will forever reign. I am sure.

Immortal Pen

In his final moments, his Soul bled profusely on paper
.
.
.
We are the stewards of an immortal pen-
Masters of metaphors, our truth will forever reign.

-Rosario B. Villaluz, co-author, Semper Fi Poetry