negative return
i
grant me an afternoon sadness
turn, tiny wheel of ardor, turn!
ii
the lost look of sadness
synecdoche of a love returning
iii
torrid fist straight to the chest
when it arrived in the stomach
opened itself into ten fleshy petals
and held me back
iv
i had a watery prairie
modest pool
of calming dark rings, rain-damp hair
moving slowly
to doze aware
of the tornado
v
fierce warmth enormous eyes
pure expressive faces
all mortgaged realism
concentration of thought
assimilated to swarm
…wander into familiar
walls
vi
nothing as predictable today as the body:
with warm compresses, with gentle caresses
my breasts draw near the fire
test the embrace in the silence
of this stiff ruggedness you will make defoliate me
I return: dressed
by your fingers
vii
all was revealed that evening
an order never existed
swirling like a sea
feigned a drowning
suddenly stopped on the surface
we saw at last the bodies
but we were going:
profile, back, end of the album.
negativo del regreso
i
dame tristeza a la tarde
gira, diminuta rueda de ardor, gira!
ii
la mirada perdida de la tristeza
sinécdoque del amor que vuelve
iii
puño tórrido en la boca al pecho
cuando llegó al estómago
se abrió en diez carnosos pétalos
y me contuvo
iv
tuve llanura acuosa
modesto estanque
de serena ojera, cabello llovido
movimiento lento
donde dormitar consciente
del tornado
v
tibieza feroz ojos enormes
rostros de expresivo puro
todo realismo hipotecado
concentración de pensamiento
asimilado a enjambre
..deambulé contra paredes
reconocidas
vi
nada tan predecible hoy como el cuerpo:
con tibias compresas, con caricias dóciles
acerca mi pecho a la lumbre
prueba abrazar en silencio
de esta rígida rugosidad harás que me deshoje
regreso: desde tus dedos
vestida
vii
todo se supo a la tarde
nunca existió consigna
arremolinado como un mar
se simuló un ahogo
de pronto detenido en superficie
vimos al fin los cadáveres
pero nos estábamos yendo:
perfil, espalda, fin del álbum.
Karen Wild Díaz (Montevideo, 1984) studied philosophy at the University of Paris 8-Vincennes-Saint Denis, and is now an assistant professor at the University of the Republic. Her first book in English, Anti-Ferule (Toad Press, 2015) was originally published as Anti-Férula (2013). Her poems have appeared in Drunken Boat, the Blue Lyra Review, Copper Nickel, and América Invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets.
Ron Paul Salutsky, a native of Somerset, Kentucky, is the author of Romeo Bones (Steel Toe Books, 2013), and translator for Anti-Ferule (Toad Press, 2015), from the Spanish of Karen Wild Díaz. His poetry, translations, and fiction have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Colorado Review, Narrative, Copper Nickel, and América Invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets. Ron lives in Ochlocknee, Georgia, and teaches at Southern Regional Technical College.