POLICE

This animal calls itself police.

Whistling plantigrade.

Varieties: the English, Sherlock. (Pipe.)

Carter, the North American. (Piece.)

Typical diet:

confidential fodder,

electrointerrogataperecorders,

communism (international),

grueling nights

of artificial light.

Quite littler are those of the race called policeman.

Metal buttons, badge. The head

formed into a cap. In general, a blue pelt.

Typical diet: juvenile delinquency,

disturbances, strikes, petty larceny.

Communism (local).

Translated from the Spanish

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)