Carolina Chaves-O’Flynn was born and raised in Colombia. She earned a PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from The CUNY Graduate Center and teaches Spanish at Queens College and Princeton University. She writes short stories, poetry and essays, and her work has been published in several anthologies and journals.
La caída De pie sobre la cresta de la ola Recibes parabienes triunfalistas. Proa al viento, lo patinas. Plácido, imperioso, bitácora de las mil conquistas.
Debajo y paladeando la áspera inclemencia de la arena, quedo yo. Imbatible tripulante del olvido y sus fracasos. Molusco sometido, confecciono la perla que saliva mi dolor y ambiciono sin rodeo el merecido colapso de tu flota.
A ojo de ancla, advertiré sin premura tu anunciado tambaleo,
la admirable fragilidad de la enérgica superficie que te eleva.
Recogeré como mimos el empuje del desmayo,
daré mi perla a los cerdos
que se ocupen de tus restos.
The Fall
Standing on the crest of the wave You receive triumphal congratulations. Bow to the wind, you skate along it. Placid, imperious, Returning from a thousand conquests.
Deep down below, tasting the harsh inclemency of the sand, There is me, unbeatable creature of oblivion and its fiascos. A subjected mollusk, creating a pearl with the saliva of my pain, and truly wishing you the defeat you so deserve.
Through the eye of an anchor, I will calmly observe your inevitable wobbling,
and the admirable fragility of the powerful surface that elevates you.
I will pick up the pieces with pure pleasure after your downfall.
And I shall cast my pearl before the swine
that deal with your remains.
Translated by Carol O’Flynn