Poem
Piedad Bonnet
RECYCLING
When in a fit of anger my father killed the cat,Bartolo my cat
because it put its tail in his broth
and because it was already old and didn’t catch mice as it should
and because it was expensive to maintain,
when my drunk father killed it with his hands
there was a noisy confusion at home.
All came, all:
my sister said: save me the eyes
for a pair of earrings, and Martino,
our blind neighbor, bagged the guts
– you can make violin strings with them –
and mother, who cried at first, cried with me;
she wanted the fur
to put as a collar on her jacket,
and the whiskers
were bagged by my brother Eladio the mechanic,
and the fur on its paws became
nice pincushions
for the fat witch that lives at the back of the courtyard
and is a dressmaker.
What was left they boiled with salt and onions.
They gave it to Luis, who sleeps on our street,
because with it you can also make cat broth for the hungry.
I asked for the bones.
I bite them one after another in front of my sister’s mirror
because my grandmother said
that if you bite the right one you become invisible.
© Translation: 2005, Nicolás Suescún
RECICLANDO
RECICLANDO
Cuando papá en un ataque de rabia mató al gato,a mi gato Bartolo
porque metió la cola entre su caldo
y porque ya era viejo y no cazaba como debía ratones
y además era caro mantenerlo,
cuando papá borracho lo mató con sus manos,
hubo una gran algarabía en casa.
Vinieron todos, todos;
mi hermana dijo: guárdenme los ojos
para un par de zarcillos, y Martino,
nuestro vecino, se pidió las tripitas
– sirven para hacer cuerdas de violín –
y mi mamá, que al principio lloró, lloró conmigo,
quiso la piel
para ponerle cuello a su chaqueta,
y los bigotes
se los pidió mi hermano Eladio el que mecánico,
y los cojines de sus patas fueron
lindos alfileteros
para la bruja gorda que vive atrás del patio
y es modista.
Lo que sobró lo hirvieron con sal y con cebolla.
Se lo dieron a Luis, que duerme en nuestra calle,
pues también sirve el caldo de gato para el hambre.
Yo me pedí los huesos.
Uno a uno los muerdo delante del espejo de mi hermana
porque dijo mi abuela
que al morder el que toca se vuelve uno invisible.
© 2004, Piedad Bonnett
From: Tretas del débil
From: Tretas del débil
Poems
Poems of Piedad Bonnet
Close
RECYCLING
When in a fit of anger my father killed the cat,Bartolo my cat
because it put its tail in his broth
and because it was already old and didn’t catch mice as it should
and because it was expensive to maintain,
when my drunk father killed it with his hands
there was a noisy confusion at home.
All came, all:
my sister said: save me the eyes
for a pair of earrings, and Martino,
our blind neighbor, bagged the guts
– you can make violin strings with them –
and mother, who cried at first, cried with me;
she wanted the fur
to put as a collar on her jacket,
and the whiskers
were bagged by my brother Eladio the mechanic,
and the fur on its paws became
nice pincushions
for the fat witch that lives at the back of the courtyard
and is a dressmaker.
What was left they boiled with salt and onions.
They gave it to Luis, who sleeps on our street,
because with it you can also make cat broth for the hungry.
I asked for the bones.
I bite them one after another in front of my sister’s mirror
because my grandmother said
that if you bite the right one you become invisible.
© 2005, Nicolás Suescún
From: Tretas del débil
From: Tretas del débil
RECYCLING
When in a fit of anger my father killed the cat,Bartolo my cat
because it put its tail in his broth
and because it was already old and didn’t catch mice as it should
and because it was expensive to maintain,
when my drunk father killed it with his hands
there was a noisy confusion at home.
All came, all:
my sister said: save me the eyes
for a pair of earrings, and Martino,
our blind neighbor, bagged the guts
– you can make violin strings with them –
and mother, who cried at first, cried with me;
she wanted the fur
to put as a collar on her jacket,
and the whiskers
were bagged by my brother Eladio the mechanic,
and the fur on its paws became
nice pincushions
for the fat witch that lives at the back of the courtyard
and is a dressmaker.
What was left they boiled with salt and onions.
They gave it to Luis, who sleeps on our street,
because with it you can also make cat broth for the hungry.
I asked for the bones.
I bite them one after another in front of my sister’s mirror
because my grandmother said
that if you bite the right one you become invisible.
© 2005, Nicolás Suescún
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère