Poetry is Raul’s soul.
He loved poets and their work and produced “From the Ashen Land of the Virgin” in which he interviewed many of them, including Silvina Ocampo who drew two portraits of him.
Raul’s Poetry
Raul’s output is quite sparse, and the language is chiseled, tender and spacious
EL SANGRANTE JARDIN – In its preface Raul comments that it should have been published long ago.
Some of the poems were included in the book “Poetas Sin Fronteras” by Ramiro Lagos
In a recording set to music (not commercial in nature) Raul reads 16 of the poems which you can listen to..
You can also listen to his poem ‘Yo Quisiera ser,’ composed and performed by him.
Acclaimed poet Olga Orozco (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Orozco) comments on the collection El Sangrante Jardin/The Bleeding Garden” in 1987 – She was one of South America’s major 20thCentury writers. Author of twenty books of poetry spanning over fifty years. Her poetry has been translated into fifteen languages and anthologized in hundreds of books. After receiving dozens of prizes in her life time the last one of which was the “Juan Rulfo Award” in 1998 –the most prestigious one in Latin America- Orozco died in Buenos Aires in 1999. :
“Not only do I ask but rather threaten you to send me poems, texts, short stories, whatever you want, immediately. Isn’t it a shame that I haven’t yet read anything of yours and only have a Raúl Galvez face without tattoos or touch-ups?”“I liked your poems very much. They have a suspicious innocence. A duality. As if looking at two sides at once. One with a fixed gaze and the other cunningly. This gives the poems a particular hidden taste, an air of mystery for the readers who don’t allow themselves to be fooled by simplicity and dig and dig to find the key. I particularly liked “Buenos Aires Siesta” and was enchanted by “Little Girl.” I think you should insist on those tones whose language seems direct but whose intention is not. Write to me. Tell me how your things are going; to what heights your inspiration is flying; what kind of zoo are the clouds forming in your head; what is the wind saying when you listen calmly, and most of all, improve your soul and don’t stop praying for us or ceasing to repeat your words of power.”