American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes *Traducción al español*
Las únicas mujeres solteras, viudas ahora, o novias
medio casadas con la briza. Mentimos para estar juntos.
Mentimos para arreglárnoslas. Mentimos para romper la verdad.
Mentimos para sacudir la fruta de los árboles.
Mi madre ayudó a la abeja obrera, su amor zumbó
pegajoso y con picaduras. Estoy aquí por la viuda
temerosa de las mariposas. Una viuda sabe que la ruina puede ser
tan extensa como “la lluvia”, una especie de cubierta
para la suciedad de los muertos. La naturaleza no destruye
solo cambia. Arrodíllate y reza
levántate rápidamente, y vive para celebrarlo.
Caer es la primera y más importante habilidad en muchas cosas.
Cómo caer sin romperse y cómo romperse.
Dime qué es lo que rezas cuando estás roto y cuando rompes.
*Translation to Spanish by Marjha Paulino
American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin*
The only single women widows now or brides
Half married to the breeze. We lie to stay together.
We lie to make do. We lie to break the truth
Apart. We lie to shake fruit from the trees.
My mother favored the worker bee, her love buzzed
With stickiness & sting. I’m here about the widow
Afraid of butterflies. A widow knows ruin may be
As comprehensive as “rain,” a kind of cover
For the dirt about the dead. Nature does not destroy
Only change. Get down on your knees & pray
And get up quickly & live to celebrate that.
Falling is the first & most important skill in many things.
How to fall without breaking as well as how to break.
Tell me what you pray when you are broken or break.
*This article appears in the print edition of the July 1, 2019, issue. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/01/american-sonnet-for-my-past-and-future-assassin
Illustration: Stuart Patience
Terrance Hayes (1971) is an American poet and educator who has published seven poetry collections. His 2010 collection, Lighthead, won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2010.
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