Three Poems from Mujer Entre Perro y Lobo by Lety Elvir
by Lety Elvir translated by Paloma Sierra / May 4, 2016 / No comments
Image by Andrei Havos, from the cover of “Muher Entre Perro y Lobo” by Lety Elvir.
- Lety Elvir
- Lety Elvir is a poet and writer, Fulbright scholar, lecturer for the
National University of Honduras, and founding member of PEN Honduras. She is the author of the poetry collections Moon continues (1998) and Woman Between Dog and Wolf (2001), where these poems were originally published. She is also the author of the fictional work Sublime and Perverse (2005). Lety Elvir edited the anthologies Blow and Pen: Anthology of Poetry Written By Resistant Women, 2009-2013 and Women’s Poems of Protest and Resistance, with Mary Roof. She is the current ICORN writer-in-residence of the Amsterdam City of Refuge in the Netherlands.
IMPERFECT LADY
He wanted to have
a woman with day and night
mornings of seasoning
Sundays of cake.
A white kitchen
walls without agenda
woman of sugar
sheep of cotton.
Know-it-all in measures
exact as she walks
punctual in the date
precise in the right guess
perfect in the loveless orgasm.
But she used to be
metaphor with garlic
ambiguity to time
water between the hands
leaking point in the portrait of cluelessness
sex and love
imperfect lady
woman between dog and wolf.
IMPERFECTA DAMA
Él quería tener
mujer con día y noche
mañanitas de aderezo
domingos de pastel.
Una cocina blanca
paredes sin agenda
mujer de azúcar
ovejita de algodón.
Sabihonda en medidas
exacta al caminar
puntual en la cita
precisa en el acierto
perfecta en el orgasmo sin amor.
Pero ella solía ser
metáfora al ajillo
ambigüedad al tiempo
agua entre las manos
punto de fuga en el retrato del despiste
sexo y amor
imperfecta dama
mujer entre perro y lobo.
TO RESIST
To resist
I will dress as king
scepter, crown, lion
loafers backwards.
To resist
I will embroider a scream in the pillow
that held your mouth
I will let your nails grow
knives of half moon
that wound what they touch.
To resist
I will travel to the horizon
when the sun scatters
I will assign the other sex to the dragon.
PARA RESISTIR
Para resistir
me vestiré de rey
cetro, corona, león
zapatillas al revés.
Para resistir
bordare un grito en la almohada
que sostuvo tu boca
dejare crecer tus unas
cuchillos de media luna
hieren lo que tocan.
Para resistir
viajaré al horizonte
cuando el sol se desparrame
pondré el otro sexo al dragón.
DO NOT FIRE; IT IS ME
The whistle sounds
it is a day of soccer
Christmas, Holy Week
for the temples of a kid
it is all the same:
do not fire; it is me.
The world has circus
H scored 4, rival 2
there is no fraud, there is no pain
antidoping, all blue
multiorgasm, multigoal.
From the point of this night
I celebrate my defeat
for the bridges that engulfed
the hurricane
for the absence of your hands
on my skin
for the anguish in the Mirada
that the earthquake left.
For the hope that is not yet born
Do not fire, please.
NO DISPAREN QUE SOY YO
Suena el silbato
es un día de fútbol
Navidad, Semana Santa
para la sien de un niño
es igual ocasión:
no disparen que soy yo.
El mundo tiene circo
H metió 4, rival 2
no hay estafa, no hay dolor
antidoping, todo azul
multiorgasmo, multigol.
Desde el punto de esta noche
celebro mi derrota
por los puentes que engulló
el huracán
por la ausencia de tus manos
en mi piel
por la angustia en la Mirada
que el terremoto dejó.
Por la esperanza que aún no nace
No disparen, por favor.
