Nagasaki en cada aniversario

Abandonas tu sombra en el caminoy te empuja la niebla a regar el otoñocon lluvia de cenizas.

Quizá te reconozca la añoranza de otrosque esperan que tus pasos delaten y murmurenel nombre de la nubeque arrancó los cimientos de tu casa.

No sabrás si tus hijoste llamaron a gritos con la boca quemada

Si quedaron pupitrescon niños olvidadoso la tierra abrazó todas las almas.

Aquí comienzan los días nuevos,tienen uñas blancas y son impacientes;puedes nombrarlos despacioy reconocer en ellos su locura.

Comienzan cuando decides ahogarte en una mesa de cristalllenando tu garganta de amapolas;y a nadie le sorprende el temblor de tus labiosen la lenta hermosura de cada suicidio.

• Nagasaki on Each Anniversary
• Ana Merino (bio)
  Translated by Toshiya Kamei (bio)

You abandon your shadow on the wayand the mist forces you to wash autumnwith the rain of ashes.

Maybe you're recognized by the yearning of otherswho wait for your steps to betray and whisperthe name of the cloudthat uprooted the foundations of your house.

You won't know if your childrenshouted your name with their burned mouths

if desks withlost children remainedor the earth embraced all the souls.

Here begin new dayswith white nails and no patience;you can name them slowlyand recognize their madness in them.

They begin when you decide to choke yourself at a crystal tablewith poppies stuffed down your throat;and the quiver of your lips surprises no onein the slow loveliness of every suicide.

Ana Merino

Ana Merino is an Associate Professor of Spanish Creative Writing at The University of Iowa. She has published six books of poetry: Preparativos para un viaje, winner of the 1994 Adonais Award, Los días gemelos, La voz de los relojes, Juegos de niños, winner of the 2003 Fray Luis de León Award, Compañera de celda, and Hagamos caso al tigre. Her seventh poetry book, Curación, was a finalist for the Jaime Gil de Biedma award and will be published in autumn 2010. She is also the author of a novel for young adults, El hombre de los dos corazones (2009). Merino also writes about comics and graphic novels, testimonial representations, and theories of childhood in contexts of poverty and marginality.

Toshiya Kamei

Toshiya Kamei ha traducido recientemente Curse of Eve and Other Stories de Liliana Blum (Host Publications, 2008), Fox Window and Other Stories de Naoko Awa (UNO Press, 2010), e Irlando, de Espido Freire (FTR Press, en preparación).

Toshiya Kamei has translated most recently Liliana Blum's Curse of Eve and Other Stories (Host Publications, 2008), Naoko Awa's Fox's Window and Other Stories (UNO Press, 2010), and Espido Freire's Irlanda (FTR Press, forthcoming).