National Poetry Month: Humberto Ak'abal

Humberto Ak'abal (Guatamala, b. 1952)

Freedom

Blackbirds, buzzards, and doves

land on cathedrals and palaces

just as they do

on rocks, trees, and fences...

and they shit on them

with the complete freedom

of one who knows that god and justice

belong to the soul.

early hours

In the high hours of the night

stars get naked

and bathe in the rivers.

Owls desire them,

the little feathers on their heads

stand up.


from
The Farrar Straus Giroux book of Twentieth Century Latin American Poetry

A brilliant, moving, and thought-provoking summation of many poetic paths, The FSG Book of Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry invites us to look at an illustrious literary tradition with fresh eyes. Ilan Stavans, one of the foremost scholars of Hispanic culture and a distinguished translator, goes beyond easy geographical and linguistic categorizations in gathering these works.

This bilingual anthology features eighty-four authors from sixteen different countries writing in Spanish, Portuguese, Mapuche, Nahuatl, Quechua, Mazatec, Zapotec, Ladino, and Spanglish. The poems are rendered into English in inspired fashion by first-rate translators such as Elizabeth Bishop, Galway Kinnell, W. S. Merwin, Alastair Reid, Mark Strand, and Richard Wilbur.