POLICÍA
Este animal se llama policía.
Plantígrado soplador.
Variedades: la inglesa, sherlock. (Pipa).
Carter, la norteamericana. (Pipa).
Alimento normal:
pasto confidencial,
electrointerrogograbadoras,
comunismo (internacional),
noches agotadoras
de luz artificial.
Son mucho más pequeños los de raza policeman.
Metalbotones, chapa. La cabeza
formando gorra. Pelaje azul en general.
Alimento normal: delincuencia infantil,
disturbios, huelgas, raterías.
Comunismo (local).
Notes:
This poem is part of the portfolio “Nicolás Guillén: Maker and Breaker of Forms.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the September 2024 issue. The poems in this folio come from The Great Zoo by Nicolás Guillén, translated by Aaron Coleman (University of Chicago Press, 2024). El Gran Zoo © 2023 by Nicolás Guillén, first published in 1967. Translation © 2024 by Aaron Coleman. Reprinted by permission of the University of Chicago Press and the Estate of Nicolás Guillén. All rights reserved.
Source: Poetry (September 2024)