I saw a herd of toads in the gully of my reflection
Staring at each other arguing over insects
It wasn't romantic
White suits folded on the lake
And a gold medal gleaming like the mosquito
That can distinguish blue blood
From slime
Sliding down the rocky salt flats
Of Acaoulco's snowy isthmus
It was my saddest memory
I was in pieces
I was feeling Greco-Roman
A hermaphroditic breeze fluttered the skirts
Of parking lot shadows
An oil smell took me out of the scene
And I entered the dark cinema
I lit a cigarette
The first light came on and by law
They kicked me out of this world
_________________
Tilsa Otta
The Hormone of Darkness
translated Farid Matuk
Graywolf Press, 2024
