The Earth is cloud marbled, inscribed with sea.
Orion, big unbothered company.
An end to 1,000-foot descents, the black
blistering plastic bucket-swing—use cracked.
A place, round, for viewing all the sides.
Today, the temp’s so high. It’s ninety. Writhe.
The truth’s a coyote spotted in Eden.
Our sky—slate gray—it swiftly conquers even,
“It’s cold, a bit, in here,” this maze tower.
A summit—nationless—eschews power.
Neighborhood: lines. The hills unfurled are East.
On Woodburn, glance at changed houses for lease.
At Walnut Hills, the geeks recite Shakespeare.
“He wants to bomb the hood,” they overhear.
A statue throws a discus nowhere, quick,
to fall asleep, awake, and birth a ship.
Studio art: the river clay is form.
Abroad they sell Politely Black and squirm.
Ex Libris: Study Tables: rockets—strange.
In Walnut Hills, “The Dream” we sought: deranged.
—
VECINO
Por Emily Spencer
TraducciĂłn de Moriana Delgado
La Tierra es nube marmĂłrea, inscrita con mar.
OriĂłn, una gran compañĂa sin obstáculos.
Un final para los descensos de 1000 pies, el negro
ampuloso columpio de plástico que el uso agrietó.
Un lugar, redondo, para ver todos los lados.
Hoy, la temperatura es tan alta. Noventa. Te retuerces.
La verdad es un coyote visto en el Edén.
Nuestro cielo gris pizarra, rápidamente conquista incluso,
“Hace frĂo, un poco, aquĂ,” esta torre de laberinto.
Una cumbre sin naciones que mastica el poder.
Vecindario: lĂneas. Las colinas que se despliegan son Este.
En Woodburn, mira las casas cambiadas para alquiler.
En Walnut Hills, los geeks recitan a Shakespeare.
“Quiere bombardear el barrio”, oyen por casualidad.
Una estatua lanza un disco a ninguna parte, rápido,
para dormir, despertar y dar a luz a una nave.
Arte de studio: la arcilla del rĂo es forma.
En el extranjero venden Educadamente Negro y se retuercen.
Ex Libris: Tablas de estudio: cohetes—qué extraño.
En Walnut Hills, “El Sueño” que buscamos: [estaba] trastornado.
Reprinted from East Walnut Hills, Zone 3 Press (2021).
—
Emily Spencer is the author of East Walnut Hills, winner of the Zone 3 Press Book Award. Her poetry has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Poetry, and elsewhere. She graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Spencer is an assistant professor at Miami University.
Moriana Delgado is a Mexican writer currently living in Iowa City. She’s an MFA candidate at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Besides writing poems, she likes essaying Chinese in its simplified form.