One Poem from Hotel Hastings by Eduardo Padilla

*
There is color in Vancouver,
there are grey and whites.
A lot of grey, mostly.

A depressed blue.

There is also, a lot of green, you know,
trees come out from Canadian people
from everywhere.
But only in the summer, the green comes out to preach.

The rest of the year the sky is a glaucoma

a funeral veil made of asbestos

a bureaucrat who is crushing you slowly,
without hurting you.


-Translation to English by Marjha Paulino.

*
Hay color en Vancouver,
hay grises y blancos.
Mucho gris, sobre todo.

Un azul deprimido.

Hay también mucho verde, sabes,
a los canadienses les salen árboles
de todas partes.
Pero sólo en verano el verde sale a pregonar.

El resto del año el cielo es un glaucoma

un velo mortuorio hecho de asbestos

un burócrata que te va aplastando lento,
sin que te duela.


Illustration: Owen Gent



Eduardo Padilla (Vancouver 1976) is a translator and poet. He is the author of collections of poetry which include Wang Vector (Ornitorrinco), Zimbabwe (El Billar de Lucrecia), Mausoleo y áreas colindantes (La Rana), Blitz (filodecaballos), Un gran accidente (Bongo Books), Hotel Hastings (Cinosargo Ediciones, 2018) among others.