[I saw a herd of toads]
By Tilsa Otta
Translated By Farid Matuk
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 Acapulco’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
Copyright Credit: Tilsa Otta, "[I saw a herd of toads]" from The Hormone Of Darkness: A Playlist, trans. by Farid Matuk. Copyright © 2024 by Farid Matuk. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.org.
Source: The Hormone Of Darkness: A Playlist (Graywolf Press, 2024)