smokebreak
Jose C.
sagging coats
picked limply from
the graffitied cubby.
slipped on like bruised
banana peels
or
commercial straight-
jackets threaded
with stitched wrists
the zippers open onto
dauchau's rib
indelible slashes
carved masterfully
in animal randomness
A Spanish girl
flaked skin falling
covers her mouth
with a napkin
she's drawn on,
muttering about germs.
filing along like
miscalculated index numbers
wait. 'you, with
the bruises that have
a good memory and a bandaged
wrist. go
sit by the telephone
where 'FEAR TOMORROW'
was carved into the wall
by some earnest unfortunate.
tonight is still CO:
constant observation for
short i will
watch you when my coffee
is strong
when i am weak think
of how you got here,
and avoid anything sharp.'
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A great piece of writing. For me the lack of capitalisation leaves some of your pieces down. The great American poet Oppen was averse to this because he felt that the word is important enough for it to be punctuated. each line of his work starts with capitalisation. That said you employ language in a powerful and expressive manner.