Rebecca Gayle Howell
Jeremy Paden
Four POEMS
Cómo despertar
Aprende tus lecciones
del becerro
Mira cómo golpea su cabeza
contra la bolsa de la vaca
cuando ella no baja
cuando no suelta la leche
como si un secreto cálido
Déjala saber que estás allí con tu sed
una cubeta de boca ancha
sobre el suelo
Si anhelas la primera leche
la primera crema dulce ligera
el primer quehacer cumplido
sea mala
Grita su nombre
A la fuerza mueve su pata
Su cola te abofetea
Tu puño la aporrea
Tu cara torcida por
la nube de las moscas
su cuerpo caliente sucio
cuernos de hueso expuesto levantados
mermados por el aire y la edad
No te avergüences
de esto tu placer
privado
Toma control
Cuéntale todos tus secretos
Tus labios acariciando su ubre
como si estuvieras sacudiéndote en sueños
y quién está allí
para verte Nadie Nadie
Cuídate
Te cagará
o te pateará la testa
Learn to Wake
Learn your lesson
from the calf
Look how he rams his head
into the cow’s sack
when she does not drop
when she holds her drink
like a warm secret
Let her know your thirst is there
a wide-mouthed bucket
on the ground
If you want first milk
first light sweet cream
first chore done
Be mean
Shout her name
Force her leg back
Her tail swatting you
Your fist pounding her
Your face strained against
the spate of flies
Her hot dirt body
horns rising open bone
eroded by air and age
Do not be ashamed
of this your private
pleasure
Take charge
Tell her your secrets
Your lips low against her udder
like you are dream-twitching
and who is there
to see you no one no one
Watch yourself
You’ll get shit on
or kicked in the head
“How to Wake” was originally published in Rebecca Gayle Howell’s Render / An Apocalypse (Cleveland State UP, 2013). All rights reserved.Cómo cocinar los pulmones
No se pueden guardar
Dáselos de comer a tus hijos
Dáselos de comer a tu perro
Hiérvelos con el corazón
ya que nadie lo come solo
Hiérvelos con el espinazo
Quién sabe cómo el aliento de dios
se reduce a una pulpa
Días de brega
de aire frío plagado
su llama viral
de inspiración espiración
desperdicio
Ido Acabado
No se pueden guardar
Dame a tus niños
Dame al perro
al mapache al zorro
al ratón
a la boca que rebusca
a los sinvergüenzas
How to Cook the Lungs
They cannot be kept
Feed them to your children
Feed them to the dog
Boil them with the heart
which no one eats alone
Boil them with the backbone
Who knows how breath of god
cooks down to mash?
Days of work
of cold blight air
its viral flame
of inhale exhale
waste
Gone Gone
They cannot be kept
Feed me to your children
Feed me to the dog
the raccoon the fox
the rat
the foraging mouths
the shameless ones
“How to Cook the Lungs” was originally published in Rebecca Gayle Howell’s Render / An Apocalypse (Cleveland State UP, 2013). All rights reserved.El riesgo es que no hay riesgo
El Chavo monta su bici, un espiral Fibonacci
en un parqueo pavimentado. Qué calor. Estoy en un carro estacionado,
varada. No sé a dónde ir. Un hombre con una estrella
tatuada en el cuello cruza la calle hacia nosotros.
De cinco puntos y azul de bandera. Está solo, El Chavo.
Es más sensato. Bebe agua, mas no beba el agua
de acá, su madre le podría haber dicho. Por encima nuestro, gansos avanzan
hacia el norte por alambres de ábaco tiesamente encordados a – qué. ¿Qué cielo
nos sostiene? Quién hace cuenta de nuestros pecados.
The Risk Is There Is No Risk
The Kid's riding his bike, Fibonacci spiral
in a cement lot. It’s hot. I’m in one of the parked cars,
stranded. I don’t know where to go. A man with a star
inked on his neck crosses the street toward us.
Five points and patriot blue. He’s alone, The Kid.
He knows better. Drink water, but don’t drink the water
here, his mother could have said. Above us, geese charge
north on abacus wires strung tight to—what. What sky
are we held by? Who counts our sins.
“The Risk Is There Is No Risk” was originally published in Rebecca Gayle Howell’s American Purgatory (Black Springs Press Group, 2017). All rights reserved.Hagamos al hombre a nuestra imagen
Defender tu territorio. Caminamos. Estamos conversando ahora
del viento. Defiéndete a ti mismo. Nos imagino como una brigada,
los tres flacos, una mara contra el aire. No sé quién fue
el que le enseñó a Slade de hablar por los codos ni al Chapo
de cerrar la boca, pero así es. Un sistema perfecto.
Slade me sigue a mí y yo le sigo al Chapo, su visión
de pozos, su fetiche, el nuestro. Llevamos semanas en pos de
lo que queremos ver. El Chapo apuñala el cielo como si el cielo fuera
un globo y él un niño haciendo una broma. No somos niños.
Let Us Make Man In Our Image
Stand your ground. We are walking. We are talking now
of the wind. Defend yourself. I imagine us a brigade,
the thin three, a gang against the air. I don't know
who taught Slade to run his mouth and Little
to shut his, but there it is. A perfect system.
Slade follows me following Little, his vision
of wells, his fetish, ours. For weeks we've chased
what we want to see. Little stabs the sky like the sky is
a balloon and he's a child playing prank. We aren't kids.
“Let Us Make Man In Our Image” was originally published in Rebecca Gayle Howell’s American Purgatory (Black Springs Press Group, 2017). All rights reserved.Rebecca Gayle Howell is an Associate Professor of Poetry and Translation for the University of Arkansas MFA program. Her awards include two fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, the United States Artists Fellowship, and the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry. Working as a poet, translator, and librettist, she has received critical acclaim from such outlets as The Los Angeles Times, Poetry London (U.K.), Asymptote, Limelight (AUS), Publisher’s Weekly, MINT (India), Classic FM (U.K.), and Ms. magazine. Her latest book is Erase Genesis, just out from Project Poëtica/Bridwell Press.
Jeremy Paden is an Affrilachian Poet who writes and translates in both English and Spanish. His most recent translations are De las que duelen (Valparaíso Ediciones, 2024), a Spanish language version of Ada Limón’s The Hurting Kind, and Waiting for Perec (Action, Spectacle, 2025), an English language version of Mario Meléndez’s Esperando a Perec. He is also the author of several poetry collections and a bilingual illustrated children’s book. The recipient of awards like the Premio Poeta en Nueva York and the Campoy-Ada Prize, Paden is a Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at Transylvania University.