Enmanuel R. Arjona
Fuiste flor de café todas tus mañanas
flor de sigilo cada madrugada
de enaguas vaporosas, rústicas sandalias
fuiste noche de aguardiente
lamento de paisana.
Iguana Flower
Translated by Marie García
from "Flor de iguana" by Enmanuel R. Arjona
You were a coffee flower all of your mornings
a stealthy flower every sunrise
with floating skirts, rustic sandals
you were a night of aguardiente
the peasant’s lament.
Desplome
Laura González
Granito de sal en esta noble, ardua Esfera.
¿O me engaña por acaso un ansia alucinada?
¿Son apenas gratuitas ilusiones que soporta
siglo a siglo mi antigua esperanza mexicana?
Downfall
Translated by Elwin Wirkala
from "Desplome" by Laura González
My grain of salt on this harsh, noble sphere:
or am I just hallucinating fear,
and this gratuitous image just to cope,
as centuries pass, with my old Mexican hope?