Skip to content

LALT-Iso_1 Latin American Literature Today

  • menu
Search
Close this search box.
  • English
  • Español
Issue 2
April, 2017
Uncategorized

Untitled

  • by Caridad Atencio

I overcome because I am overwhelmed.
I whip my life into shape,
one tension, one bit of calm at a time,
if I must I give back the distance I run,
if I must I rise and cut something from myself.

 

I’ve arrived at this hour dragging my body from moment to moment. Surreptitiously I serve up wounded blood.
The story I bear, how will you receive it?
The water I’ve gathered makes itself heard.
Here is the mother who keeps her child
forever in her womb.
And decides she will live, even as she drowns.

Translated by Margaret Randall

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

Graffiti in Havana, Cuba. Photo by Karim Amar.
  • Caridad Atencio

Caridad Atencio (b. 1963, Havana) is a poet, essayist, and critic. Among her poetry collections are Los poemas desnudos (1995), Los viles aislamientos (1996), Umbrías (1999), Los cursos imantados (2000), and El libro de los sentidos (2010).

  • 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
PrevPrevious“Three Visits to the Master” and Other Poems by Adolfo Castañón
Next“Nation” by Israel DomínguezNext
RELATED POSTS

Robin Myers: “I approach translation as a cover artist”

by Arthur Malcolm Dixon

Magdalena River

by Robert Max Steenkist

The Magdalena River / is comprised of twelve million liters of golden sluggishness, / seducing the mountains / until her embrace with the sea.

…

Death, Humor, and Dignity in the Novel: An Interview with Gustavo Rodríguez

by Ricardo Sumalavia
LALT-LatinAmericanLiteratureToday-Black_1
Footer Logo

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
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Envelope
Latin American Literature Today Logo big width
MAGAZINE

Current Issue

Book Reviews

Back Issues

Author Index

Translator Index

PUBLISH IN LALT

Publication Guidelines

Guidelines for Translators

LALT AND WLT

Get Involved

Student Opportunities

GET TO KNOW US

About LALT

LALT Team

Mission

Editorial Board

Subscribe
  • email
LALT Logo SVG white letters mustard background

Subscriptions

Subscribe to our mailing list.