each translation is a transformation
trans people know that each transformation
is as if they threw firecrackers
in our accordion veins
made of coming and going
from neighborhoods and families
that are more or less chosen
but when you drop a bomb
there are no translations
befores or afters
they dropped a ribbon to celebrate the anniversary
of everything working
things are going perfectly
the trees and the wind
still calm in the poems
like breezes or storms
a white woman dedicates things
to universal mothers
under the tutelage of melania
beatriz isabel records videos
where she shows us the great family
everything good in the verses
everyone busy discussing
if x or y representative
received our call
but the bombs don't represent
they are like the wind if the wind were a bomb
they don't call or let you know
they want coffee or are selling chocolate bars
in exchange for donations
Copyright Credit: Raquel Salas Rivera, "each translation is a transformation" from X-Ex-Exis. Copyright © 2020 by Raquel Salas Rivera. Reprinted by permission of Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe .
Source: X-Ex-Exis (University of Arizona Press)