A poem by Humberto Ak’abal and translated from Spanish by Michael Bazzett
The nights are profoundly
dark,
deep…
…and the darkness is charmed:
it draws sound from great distances,
it makes tiny noises grow.
It has rained;
I’m caked in mud.
My memory
slips back, slips
back until I find my soul as a child
–darkness
lends itself to that.
I’m a bird without wings,
and to keep from falling
I hold my breath.