Skip to content
LALT-Iso_1
  • menu
Search
Close
  • English
  • Español
Dossier: Voices from Cuba

Nation

  • by Israel Domínguez

They were brave men
but confused.
They disobeyed orders at Santa Rita
and at Lagunas de Varona.
These servants come from the same stock.
They treat us as they might have treated
those who wanted to take the war
to the other end of the Island.
I go back to the concept of nation.
I try to remember what Hermann Hesse said:

The word nation limits us
if we don’t understand
there is only one nation:
Mother Earth.

I try to remember
but can’t
if Hermann Hesse said
Universe or Mother Earth.

 

Translated by Margaret Randall

Originally published in World Literature Today 89, no. 5 (September 2015).

Graffiti in Havana, Cuba. Photo by Karim Amar.
  • Israel Domínguez

Israel Domínguez (b. 1973, Placetas, Villa Clara) is a poet and translator. His books of poetry include Hojas de Cal (2001), Collage: Mientras avanza mi carro de equipaje (2002), Sobre un fondo de arena (2004), Después de acompañar a William Jones (2006), and Viaje de regreso (2013).

  • Margaret Randall

Margaret Randall (b. 1936, New York) lived in Cuba from 1969 to 1980. In 1970 and 2011 she was a judge of the Casa de las Américas literary contest. Her books include To Change the World: My Years in Cuba (2009) and Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression, just out from Duke University Press.

SHARE
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
RELATED POSTS

On Endurance: An Introduction to Writing by Reina María Rodríguez

by Kristin Dykstra

The verb resistir resembles the English word resist, yet it has an expansive array of meanings. The many valences of resistir fan out across the poetry and prose of…

Keys to Reading Neuman

by Francisca Noguerol

I write because as a child I felt that writing was a form of curiosity and ignorance. I write because childhood is an attitude. I write because I don’t know,…

From Include Me Out

by María Sonia Cristoff

Mara is a simultaneous interpreter who moves to a provincial town in Argentina in order to speak as little as possible for a year.

…
LALT-LatinAmericanLiteratureToday-Black_1

University of Oklahoma
780 Van Vleet Oval
Kaufman Hall, Room 105
Norman, OK 73019-4037

  • Accessibility
  • Sustainability
  • HIPAA
  • OU Job Search
  • Policies
  • Legal Notices
  • Copyright
  • Resources & Offices
Updated 06/20/2022 16:00:00
  • email
MAGAZINE

Current Issue

Book Reviews

Back Issues

Author Index

Translator Index

PUBLISH IN LALT

Style Guide

Guidelines for Translators

LALT AND WLT

Get Involved

Student Opportunities

GET TO KNOW US

About LALT

LALT Team

Mission

Editorial Board

Subscribe
  • email

Subscriptions

Subscribe to our mailing list.