Three things I fear: night,
suffering, and memory.
Night, which gives life
to sleepless beasts, the ones that roar,
like a tale of majesty and ascendence,
in my consciousness.
Suffering, which is a broken needle
driven through a fingernail, the snapped string
of a violin—splintered and fatalistic.
Memory:
that
multitude.
Three things I fear:
night, suffering, and memory.
Felipe Benítez Reyes is a prominent Spanish poet, author, and essayist. His many, many books have garnered numerous awards, including Spain’s, Premio de la Crítica and Premio Nacional de Literatura, as well as the Premio Ateneo de Sevilla, Premio Nadal, Premio Mario Vargas Llosa NH, Premio Tiflos, and Premio Hucha de Oro. Reyes’ work has been translated in English, Italian, Russian, French, Romanian and Portuguese.
Anna Rosenwong is a translator, editor, poet, and educator. Her publications include Roció Cerón’s Diorama (winner of the 2015 Best Translated Book Award), several chapbooks, and a collection of poetry by José Eugenio Sánchez (forthcoming from Autumn Hill Press). She is the translation editor of Drunken Boat. See more at annarosenwong.com