 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
|
|
||||
|
||||
| Poems by Luis Felipe Fabre Translated by Mónica de la Torre June 2004
Section 9—Scene 2—Interior—Day Miss Henrietta: pearl necklace, Victorian nightgown. Miss Henrietta greeting the detective in the drawing room: would you care for a cup of tea? It’s a difficult ceremony, and not precisely Japanese, Miss Henrietta serving tea, that is, if to spill is the same as to serve: the empty cup floating on liquid: a gentleman’s urinal more than precious china and nonetheless precious: Miss Henrietta alleges: high pressure, pills, side-effects; she confesses: target shooting is not my forte; nervous laughs: sugar? A smile: one half being traced on the detective’s face the other half lost in the horse races. Poster Thesis: the Ocelot Jiménez: 189 lbs., 5’7", face. Antithesis: Dr. Abyss: 196 lbs., 5’8", heel. Synthesis: two wrestlers tangled in a knot are not a synthesis: it is a lock: the embrace of the upside-down bear: lona! Hypothesis: after losing the mask he chose to lose what he had left in pulquerías and cheap cabarets: what a cliché: the Ocelot Jiménez: an anonymous photogravure printed on a sheet of oblivion: a poster on the leprous wall. Ranchera Song They call him the Anti charro: the Apocalitzin Mariachi: he’s made a pact with the Devil, has ties with the narcos and a medium-sized prickly pear for a heart: ay, instead of a heart a throbbing prickly pear full of thorns: a merciless whimp: the Anticharro fills bottles with emptiness: he drinks so much his eyes drip tears of tequila: sublimated urine: salud! A maguey another maguey and then nothing: a desolate landscape: this is the Anti charro: a repenting body howling for his soul: a body and then an absence: black star: ay, black star. Ay: he’s sulking this son-of-the-Llorona; they do the same when insulting: ayayayayay: the choir of the drunks. Luis Felipe Fabre was born in Mexico City in 1974. He received the poetry prize from Punto de Partida magazine in 1995. He is the author of two books, Vida quieta (ICCM – Parque Lira, 2000) and Una temporada en el Mictlán (Mantarraya Ediciones, 2003). |
 |
Out now: |
| Archives>> |
|
The Rail invites you to a reading with Jason Flores-Williams and Brian Carreira, along with musical guest Steve Strunsky of the Lonesome Prairie Dogs. Thurs., Sept. 22, 8:30 p.m. Vox Pop--Flatbush, Brooklyn www.voxpop.net |
|
OFF THE RAIL FALL 2005 at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library - Grand Army Plaza |
|
The Independent Press Association-NY recently honored The Brooklyn Rail with the following awards: |