Short Talk on Vicuñas - Anne Carson

Short Talk on Vicuñas

A mythical animal, the vicuña fares well

in the volcanic regions of northern Peru.

Light thunders down on it, like Milton

at his daughters. Hear that?—they

are counting under their breath.

Think about style of life for a

moment. When you take up your

axe, listen. Hoofbeats. Wind.

It is they who make us at home

here, not the other way around.

Charla corta sobre Vicuñas*

Un animal mítico, a la vicuña le va bien

en las regiones volcánicas del norte de Perú.

La luz truena hacia ellas, como Milton

a sus hijas. ¿Escuchas eso? Ellas

están contando en voz baja,

Piensa sobre el estilo de vida por un

momento. Cuando tomas tu

hacha, escucha. Pezuñas. Viento.

Son ellos quienes nos hacen estar en casa

aquí, no al revés.

*Translation to Spanish by Marjha Paulino

Image: A Llama in Times Square. New York. 1957.





Anne Carson (1950) is a  Canadian poet, essayist, professor of Classics and translator, graduated by the Michigan University, she has taught at Michigan University, Princeton University and McGill University. She have won the Lannan Literary Award and she was awarded with the MacArthur's Fellowship.
She has published poems, essays, libretti, prose criticism, and verse novels that often cross genres.