Editor’s Note: On March 29, 2023 at 7pm CST, translator Whitney DeVos and Nahua author Martín Tonalmeyotl will take part in the third edition of LALTulsa, our new reading and conversation series that shines a spotlight on the artists bringing Latin American literature to life in English, presented in collaboration with Tulsa Artist Fellowship. The event will be conducted in Spanish via Zoom. Follow LALT on Facebook for more information.
Tlamiktijketl
Notajtsin melauak yotekikualan,
tlauelchoka,
ixtenchachapaka ika choka.
Kijtoua tej kinkixtis ixtololojuan
niman kintlalpachos ijtik tlajle.
Xok kineke kisas ipan ojtle kampa kijtoua
ne kiyauak yemiyak nemej tlamiktijkej,
tlakamej uan xteiknelianej,
uan kimimiktsiaj inminiktsitsiuan
niman yajua,
san kimimiktsia ipitsotsitsiuan.
Sanka on tlamantle,
iyoltsin yepeua kualo.
Tetekuika kechka ueye itlakayo,
kimakase kampa mostla noso uiptla,
ixuiuan maixpoliuikan
niman noijke makisakan
tlamiktijkej ken yajua.
Butcher
Tormented, my father
sheds bitter tears
of rage.
He wants to gouge out his eyes
and bury them in the earth.
He refuses to look out into the street
where rivals
bloodier than he is
tear others to pieces.
Something my father does
only to pigs.
And so,
his heart begins to fail.
Quakes ravage his body,
terrified that, one day or the next,
his nietos will lose their way
and end up
butchers themselves.
Ojtsitsintin
Matikinchijchiuakan ojtsitsintin
ika inxochipakilis atepanoltin
kampa kokonej xkintemomotsos apismiktle,
kampa mikilistle mayejko tla se yeueuentsin
niman amo ika ikuitlapil kolotsintle
niman amo ika miktepostsitsintin.
Matikinchijchiuakan ojtsitsintin
ika tlakatlaltipaktin,
asiuatsitsintin
niman ika tototlajtoltsitsitsin
uan ueliskej teijliskej tlinon otikchijke ipan in tlaltipaktle.
Our Roads
Let’s lay new streets
with bridges of joy:
wherever hunger does not nip at our children,
wherever death arrives not with a scorpion’s tail
or a pistol in a holster
but only with the passage of time.
Let’s lay our roads
using men-earth,
and women-water
and bird-tongues
to paraphrase our footprints.
