EL CARIBE

By Nicolás Guillén
En el acuario del Gran Zoo,
nada el Caribe.

            Este animal
marítimo y enigmático
tiene una cresta de cristal,
el lomo azul, la cola verde,
vientre de compacto coral,
grises aletas de ciclón.
En el acuario, esta inscripción:
                                               “Cuidado: muerde”.
 
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)