Original illustration by Pedro Gomes

At this point,
my body’s beastly smell
starts to be all that matters.

To sleep outdoors.
To cast one’s bath and comb into the sea.

While I connect the stone to the star
they balance each other / smell and sky.

En este punto,
el olor a bestia de mi cuerpo
empieza a ser lo único importante.

Dormir a la intemperie.
Arrojar al mar el baño y la peinilla.

Mientras conecto la piedra con la estrella
se balancean / olor y cielo.

            Wild horse.          Native horse.
                Stray horse.          Nobody’s horse.
        Nameless horse.         Skinniest horse.
 Youngest horse.          Night horse.
   Sleeping horse.         Street horse.
           Scared horse.         Hungry horse.  
Phantom horse.         Wild horse.

          Caballo salvaje.          Caballo silvestre.
       Caballo realengo.          Caballo de nadie.
   Caballo sin nombre.          Caballo tan flaco.
     Caballo muy joven.           Caballo de noche.
           Caballo dormido.           Caballo en la calle.
              Caballo miedoso.           Caballo con hambre.
    Caballo fantasma.           Caballo salvaje.

the shadow of your smile

Animal that smiles and walks
we have become strong and untamed
just like that
rhythm of the sun
song of the dead
the Perseids’ tail of light
memory of light
intelligent animal
that modulates time
animal that partakes
and that converses
and that forgives and loves and coexists
primal entrails
spirit.

the shadow of your smile

Animal que sonríe y que camina
nos hemos hecho fuertes y salvajes
así
ritmo de sol
canción de muertos
estela de luz de las Perseidas
recuerdo de la luz
animal inteligente
que entona el tiempo
animal que participa
y que conversa
y que perdona y que ama y que convive
víscera primaria
espíritu.

TENDERNESS

DISCIPLINE

SURVIVAL

TERNURA

DISCIPLINA

SOBREVIVENCIA

Each trip entails an accident.
The path demands something.

That’s why objects are lost,
shoes break,
spiders bite.

Thorns ensnare us
and our feet know pain.

Diego was stepped on by a horse.

Cada viaje conlleva un accidente.
El camino reclama algo.

Por eso se pierden objetos,
se rompen zapatos,
pican las arañas.

Nos atrapan las espinas
y duelen los pies.

A Diego lo pisó un caballo.

“spirit animal” is a section from subtropical dry, one of the two artist books by Nicole Cecilia Delgado translated by Urayoán Noel and included in Adjacent Islands, forthcoming from Ugly Duckling Presse in 2022.

Nicole Cecilia Delgado
Nicole Cecilia Delgado is a Puerto Rican poet, translator, and book artist. In 2016, she founded La Impresora, an editorial studio specializing in small-scale independent publishing. Her latest books include Apenas un cántaro: Poemas 2007–2017 and Periodo especial, which explores the socioeconomic mirror images between the Greater Antilles in light of Puerto Rico’s ongoing financial crisis. Delgado is widely regarded as one of the leading Puerto Rican poets of her generation, and as a cultural worker bringing together artists, activists, and writers from across the Americas.
http://www.nicolececiliadelgado.blogspot.com

Urayoán Noel
Urayoán Noel is a Puerto Rican poet, critic, and translator who teaches at NYU and Stetson’s MFA of the Americas. His books include In Visible Movement: Nuyorican Poetry from the Sixties to Slam; Transversal: Poems, a New York Public Library Book of the Year; and, as editor and translator, Architecture of Dispersed Life: Selected Poetry by Pablo de Rokha, which was longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award and a finalist for the National Translation Award in Poetry. Noel is also the translator of No Budu Please, by Winston González, and a translator for the Puerto Rican Literature Project.
https://urayoannoel.com/