by Jesús Carmona-Robles
Translated by Tive Martínez
SYMPOSIUM
he said there's something wrong with me
she said today is so cold
he said we'd better not travel together
she said nobody ever gonna have your eyes
he said my father's dying tomorrow
she said we were rough fuckers
he said i have some money at home
she said let's meet at the graveyard if it snows tomorrow
he said i know i look so scared and it's true
she said Mexico is a funny place
he said take my hand cause the ground's gonna sink
she said i wore this dress for you
he said my friends read your poems
and took two more steps backwards
she said punch my face
whenever i say ME
he said the airplane was covered of blood in my dream and i couldn't find you
she said he nailed me so hard
i felt like dying
he said i don't like the way you cry
she said moi je t'offrirai des perles de pluie
he said let's go dancing
she said my parents don't wanna see you
he said it's been nine days without sunlight
she said let's marry
he said we need to get drunk soon to make love
she said then i received your text message
and he became so aggressive
he said Satan is the man with a burned face
and he wears a blue suit
she said i love you because you understand the blood
he said i am a virgin and that's why i cum so quickly
she said sorry for telling you all this
he said i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you
she said i don't eat meat
he said my niece wants to know you
she said your penis is huge
he said the night stopped being purple and became black
she said i'm gonna give you my dearest thing
he said nire iraganeko bizitzan
euskaren madarikatu bat izan dut
she said smoke as much as you want
he said i'm gonna miss the flavor of your nipples
she said i wanna have a child
he said the poem is the poem is the poem
she said the virus base is up-to-date
he said you must go to the gynecologist
she said please don't hurt me
he said my friends will never forgive you
she said i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you
he said i've never touched such a soft and sacred hand
she said i'm sleepy
he said i'll be the sun
and i'll be the rain if the sun doesn't light your path
she said just shut up i love you shut up
he said and i'll find another way for you to understand
you are okay
even if the rain doesn't wash away your sorrows
she said i'm not gonna fade
he said this is too much
she said hope you'll never feel the need to kill yourself again
he said i'm gonna break your heart
she said i didn't love him anymore
he said please don't you marry
she said call me when you arrive to your hometown
he said i've never ever felt such a rage
she said so this is what i'm supposed to tell
when people ask me why
he said i'm gonna fall in love with you
she said i don't believe i'm in Mexico
and have only taken six bottles of beer
he said if it goes all wrong i'll cut out to Alaska
to die among the polar bears
she said it's not that bad actually
he said ok
she said it's time to die
he said fuckin' ayahuasca is to be blamed
she said i read all these poems that you write
he said thanks for dancing with me
she said i am rotten
he said our blue mansion
she said marry me
and then get divorced
and then we'll marry again
he said Mexico sucks
she said whatabitch
he said all
all is said
BIG STUPID WONDERFUL THINGS
I talk to the women I believed to be in love with
in a moment of vagueness
with one other longing I tell them
lies were white loving elusive
as the night's first smile
which is warm and purple only for a moment
look at her she's the woman I love the extended time
the eternal and invisible watch hand
I want to tell them how I learnt
the appetite for killing from your love
those who acted as an artifice
in the steamy days of your childhood
There's a knife I handle
all of them must know there's a knife
I receive it in my chest thinking my body
as a lie now and forever
my father saw me crying
and he wrapped my heart in his hands
he is my father behold the way he cries
the way he loses his breath
consider him while I locate in my memory
the laughter of this woman I'm loving
her neck hidden in my father's neck
how I smile I hold the knife and he runs
he runs as I run to love an island surrounded by voices
and clockworks a defeated and conquered island
locate my father see my fear in his fear
the fear I turn into a beast
Know in addition that the waiting room is full
nobody can enter please wait outside
I know it's cold outside but there's too many people
not a soul would fit please leave out
I'm taking up five seats
I'm lying all my body down
I am the waiting room I smell like medicine
and my coffee tastes so bad wait in me
inhabit me as the cancer arrives
play in my floor tiles full of footsteps and chlorine
for years now the woman I love is kissing
the disease I invented myself
when I was spore and fungus before being me now
when I could barely move
I know the disease she kisses
but I can't talk
please raise your voice tell her about the night
I almost died I almost disappeared
I mean right now you that inhabit me
as God inhabits dead bodies right now
grab her from her short hair
grab her from her white wrists bite her lips
explain to her how love and hate are braided
in the sharpest end of my soul
and they force me to do big stupid wonderful things.
7754
namaste may your light be unrotten
plenty of food in your pantry namaste
nothing to bring you sorrow
you're also the smell of mouths you didn't kiss namaste
the cricket that keeps the beat namaste
of your sobbing at night
you're the lie in the namaste of your friend
who swears not to dope again
but you're at his side searching for the thickest vein
masturbating statues
you're also the smell of orange trees namaste
one woman steps on your face
she spreads oil and honey on her breasts namaste
you like this don't you you do
namaste you're built by your daily writing
in front of your parents
you're an eco-friendly little house
namaste but you're expensive
however there won't be storm tornado conflagration namaste
to reduce you to what you are
rubble uneven ground step-on land
by those who cannot lie
by those who cannot say namaste
i took out my clothes namaste this is my silver light
this is my scream and my riches namaste
this body belongs to my hands only
when i'm alone
feed yourself from my soft flesh namaste lick this honey
which ignites me
it tastes like vanilla and thunder namaste open your mouth
it tastes like this lightnigh bolt which is my solitude
namaste don't you see there are no questions worth asking
who cares
how was my first namaste my father's job
how was my first failed meeting
with drugs don't you see that questions are like kites
in an electrical storm
namaste just dry my body switch on the tv
play some music call for a taxi
don't you see the sunrise
and the world that gives us another chance
7754 chances already given by grandfather sun
namaste grandpa sun thanks for having faith in me
don't touch it i'm gonna sleep you can leave if you want to
Jesús Carmona-Robles was born in Chihuahua, México in 1992. He is the author of two poetry books: TOS (CONACULTA 2013) and Poemas para ahuyentar a Satán (El Gaviero Editores 2015). Along with Luna Miguel and Adrian Martínez, he edited the anthology "Pasarás de moda: 35 poetas jóvenes en español" (Montea 2015) which is a selection of the most representative works of Hispanic American young poets. His translations of Tao Lin, Robin Myers, Lyn Coffin, Ahmed Shamlou, and others have been published in several magazines in Mexico and South America.
Tive Martínez was born and currently lives in Spain. Their poems and new poetry translations have been published online in La Tribu de Frida, PlayGround, Electric Cereal, and in fanzines like B/Polar.