TONTON MACOUTE
Translated By Aaron Coleman
For René Depestre
Canid,
abundant in Haiti during the Era
of the Quadruped.
Model specimen
found in the presidential corral
just next to the ruined
wilderness of the palace.
(Port-au-Prince.)
Lost its left paw to a bullet
in front of the Champ de Mars
in a popular uprising.
It will die in a few short days
due to the machete wound
sunken in its forehead.
They’re now preparing its display case
in the Museum of Natural History.
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)