Fall 2019 Contest Poetry Finalist: Sábado en Alausí/Saturday in Alausí

 

Sábado en Alausí

Soy la mesa puesta y las velas. Somos el libro sagrado que nadie lée.

Eres el puño en la puerta, la que hace desaparecer la comida. Soy la

baraja de cartas, las palmas sobre el mantel. Somos los cajónes por

debajo de la mesa, el intercambio de miradas. Eres el cuchillo en la

mesa, la que trincha en rebanadas el fin de semana. Soy el aroma de

tu plato preferido, la víctima de tu palillo. Somos el palo preferencial.

Eres la sospecha, la espada en el pantalón. Soy la respuesta rechazada,

la suplicación. Somos los naipes repartidos, los culpables de tu

desdicha. Y tu, cuatro paredes, apretándonos la garganta. La mesa

volteada. La cuarentena. Caida y limpia.

 

Saturday in Alausí

I am the table set and the candles. We are the sacred book that

nobody reads. You are the fist on the door, the one that makes the

food disappear. I’m the deck of cards, palms on the tablecloth. We

are the drawers under the table, the exchange of glances. You’re the

knife on the table, the one that slices the weekend. I am the scent of

your favorite dish, the victim of your toothpick. We are the chosen

suit. You are the suspicion, the sword in the pants. I am the rejected

response, the supplication. We are the cards dealt, the scapegoats of

your misery. And you, four walls, squeezing our throats. The table

overturned. The quarantine. Winner takes all.

 

Image Credit: Photograph by Rirriz courtesy of Pixabay.com under the Pixabay License.

About the author

Lupita Eyde-Tucker writes and translates poetry in English and Spanish, has studied poetry at Bread Loaf, is a Fellow at The Watering Hole, and the winner of the 2019 Betty Gabehart Prize for Poetry. Her poems have recently appeared in Baltimore Review, SWWIM, Muse/ A Journal, Nashville Review, Small Orange, Aquifer, The Acentos Review, The Florida Review, Contrapuntos VI, Asymptote, and are forthcoming in The Arkansas International. More poems can be found on her website: www.NotEnoughPoetry.com

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