We all want to know about other people’s lives. Curiosity is very human, we want to know how others live, their problems, their concerns, how they face this thing we call life. Many painters, filmmakers, writers… solve this by journaling. The majority use it as a guide to their own lives, but others, fewer, intend it to be a showcase for thoughts or reflections. Some don’t even use it, they just live it, because the real driving force of literature is life itself. If there is emptiness, nothingness in terms of experiences, genius is of no use. Because it is life that directs us to literature, without life there is no creation in any art.
A leap from the bush, fragments of a diary (2009-2016) by José Luis Zerón Huguet, published by the Elche publishing house Frutos del timempo in the collection Fifty, drink of life. Zerón masterfully captures life. Any reader approaching this publication will notice that the texts are not divided by dates. Even though José Luis states it in the title, he does not frame the texts in a specific time period; Like people sitting in the theater or cinema, their thoughts about politics, literature, art and life take their place. We can say that this volume, which saw light for the first time, is the head of Zerón. There is a lot of him in these pages, those who know him will recognize him in every paragraph.
When I learned that this volume would be published, I was very curious. I was aware of this work by José Luis not because he wrote diaries, but because he published them. There are examples of writers who published their thoughts posthumously, such as Gil de Biedma or Chirbes. It is very brave to publish a book of thoughts while you are alive. Sometimes ideas can make someone uncomfortable whether we like it or not, we are all human and complex.
Divided into four parts (Roots and rhizomes, daily magic, roads, drifts and Lampos), the book is a journey not only into the thoughts of the Oriolano author, but into his entire life. His family is central to his business; The cover photo is the work of his son José Luis Zerón Soriano. But the Zerón family isn’t the only one who accurately captures the mundane and the sublime. Step on the ground while thinking about your family, a walk, or just a recently read poetry collection.
Unlike other works, A Salto de Mata is created to stay. The universality of its message allows us to think every time we read it. José Luis considered going into prose; it was his first narrative book to include an essay about life, because that’s what it really was, like life itself. Thoughts that intersect, go from one side to the other, intersect and diverge. But ultimately, these are the reflections of a poet who still has a lot to tell.
If we had to describe this work, which is more tentative than creative, we could describe it as a song about life. José Luis Zerón devoted himself to capturing all his thoughts. This book is the vault of the Oriolano author’s thoughts; It’s a way of putting ideas in black and white so they don’t fly by. Zerón’s prose is not a complete break from his poetry, but a continuation of it. The themes of his work mix genres and allow his work to expand further. We are faced with a literary incident, I hope it will not stop here and we can read more of José Luis’ diaries. Let Him show us His world and make us join it.