The anthology titled “Work (in) completeThe anthology of poems by Venezuelan author Salustio González Rincones was published by Editorial El Perro y La Rana, Caracas, in 2023. The editors' note states that the dissemination and study of Salustio's work is an outstanding obligation, given that this prolific creator, along with Rómulo Gallegos, Julio Planchart, Julio Rosales, and Enrique Soublete, was a member of the La Alborada Group (1909-1910). The introductory pages of this anthology also affirm that this author has been present in countless compilations of Venezuelan poetry since Jesús Sanoja Hernández compiled the first anthology of this important Venezuelan poet in 1977. Furthermore, the editors assert that this anthology is the most extensive published to date. It brings together nine collections of poems and one individual poem included in this selection. The back cover of this timely and successful publishing effort then comments that Salustio's work borders on the A pioneer, he was capable of modernizing traditional poetic forms such as the sonnet and the corrido. A meticulous poet in the composition of his rhymes, bold in his use of spelling, an inventor of languages, and a master of neologisms. Reading this work undoubtedly fosters a close encounter with everything that comprises or characterizes this author's imagination: local landscapes, bohemian life in Paris, syphilis, love, heroes of the past and present, among others.
The selection, organization, and distribution of the texts that make up the pages of this interesting anthology follow this order: Letter from Salustio to his mother who was in New York (1907); Novel Paths (1907); The Killer Waterfalls (1907); White Flames (1907); Thirteen Sonnets with Coda (1922); Sacred and Profane Ballads (1922); Seven Colored Sonnets (1928); The Holy Herb (Kiu Chibatsa) (1929); Old Jazz (1930); Singing They Germinate (1932); Balnal. Poem of Love and Disillusionment (1933).
We read in this anthology:
Syphilitic
You are a crooked Apostle of the black mute Fairy!
And your tongue is made of shadow and your sex of poison!
You're going at breakneck speed, without finding a brake!
Spreading your virus with vicious joy!
Every naked flesh is murky flesh
that warms the damned breathing of your breast!
The more you pollute, the more serene you feel…
You die, but you kill as in a fierce contest!
You look like a soldier who did his duty.
offering their blood at the foot of a flag,
and that he should, in death, have the hero's brilliance!
And you are even more of a traitor to life than Judas!
Yes, you deserve the whip's thousand sharp points!
May they tear your vile yellow body to shreds!
EXTRAMO
Deadly puppet: you must be impaled
on a burning stake through a whitewashed tomb!
Salustio González Rincones (San Cristóbal, 1886 – at sea, aboard the ship Caribia, May 5-6, 1933). Poet, playwright, columnist, and translator. He was a member of the literary group La Alborada. His first poetic compositions date back to 1907. He decided to leave the country (1910) for Europe, where he held diplomatic posts connected to the government of Juan Vicente Gómez. In Paris, he published a large part of his work, which appeared under the pseudonym Otal Susi. He contracted Venus's disease, to which he dedicated his poetry collection. Thirteen sonnets with a coda (to Sigma). Due to his deteriorating health, he decided to return to Venezuela. However, he did not reach land alive. The poet died aboard the ship Caribia, and the exact date of his death has not been determined, though it is estimated to have been May 5 or 6, 1933.
