Saeta
Dejad la ventana abierta
So I can hear the city’s
guts. The mechanical exhale
of vented wind.
Dejad la ventana abierta
And every night I will decide
whether to give that hoarse-voiced
cat a slice of ham, or let him
keep rattling his coin-cup.
Dejad la ventana abierta
Para que no pueda estar sola.
So the neighbors might see me
with the light on tonight,
legs akimbo on my chair.
Pangea
There’s a birthmark
on your thigh
I traced
and called Pangea.
I am the present’s
abolitionist. Forsake
your girlfriend
and the peat
Atlantic,
the whales
in the very crisp sun,
whales sickened
in amnesia.
My breast is here
to cool you.
Respiración de nuca,
fuego
de rodilla.
My thirst sucks in
the waters,
rewinding
what’s between us.
————
María Cristina Hall is a Mexican-American poet with a a bachelor’s in creative writing and political science from Columbia University and a master’s in translation studies from Pompeu Fabra University. A Catalan and Spanish translator, she writes poetry and edits for the literary magazines Mexico City Lit and La Cigarra. She is currently a professor of English at the Tec de Monterrey in Mexico City. Her work can be found in Apogee Journal, New Poetry, Surgam, and Registro MX. mcristinafernandez.net
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