THE EAGLES
Translated By Aaron Coleman
Here in this section are the eagles.
The golden, flowing one.
The imperial one.
The eagle atop its nopal.
The two-headed one (a phenomenon)
in a cage all its own.
The medal-decorated ones
ripped from the chests of the condemned
in front of firing squads.
The pecuniary one, doubled, $20 gold (twenty dollars).
The heraldic ones.
The Prussian one, in all black, always, like a faithful widow.
The one that flew for sixty years over the Maine, in Havana.
The Yankee, taken back from Vietnam.
The Napoleonic ones and the Roman ones.
The heavenly one,
with the Altair star shimmering on its chest.
And finally,
the eagle
from that brand of condensed milk, “Eagle.”
(A model specimen,
truly original.)
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)