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Poetry

Pegasus Autopsy

By Julio Pazos Barrera
Translated from Spanish by Bryan Mendoza
"Pegasus Autopsy" is one of four winning poems selected by David Tomas Martinez for the 2020 Words Without Borders–Academy of American Poets Poems in Translation Contest.
Listen to Bryan Mendoza read his translation of Julio Pazos Barrera's "Pegasus Autopsy"
 
 
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It’s a spacious chamber.
Well lit.
A light that refracts the distant woodland.

Over the table lies
the body and the wings
outspread
like sails of a shipwreck.

They’ve stitched together the carnage
with no other motive
than something comparable to mercy.

Soon the volunteers will arrive
and they’ll take the body,
including the wings
to the landfill.


“Disección del cadáver de Pegaso” © Julio Pazos Barrera. By arrangement with the author. English translation © 2020 by Bryan Mendoza. All rights reserved.

English Spanish (Original)

It’s a spacious chamber.
Well lit.
A light that refracts the distant woodland.

Over the table lies
the body and the wings
outspread
like sails of a shipwreck.

They’ve stitched together the carnage
with no other motive
than something comparable to mercy.

Soon the volunteers will arrive
and they’ll take the body,
including the wings
to the landfill.


“Disección del cadáver de Pegaso” © Julio Pazos Barrera. By arrangement with the author. English translation © 2020 by Bryan Mendoza. All rights reserved.

Disección del cadáver de Pegaso


Listen to Julio Pazos Barrera read “Pegasus Autopsy” in the original Spanish.

Es una sala espaciosa.
Muy clara.
Es luz que refracta el bosque lejano.

Sobre la mesa yacen
el cuerpo y las alas
extendidas
como velas de bajeles deshechos.

Han hilvanado el despojo
sin otro motivo
que algo semejante a la caridad.

Pronto llegarán los voluntarios
y se llevarán el cuerpo,
incluidas las alas,
al basural.

“Disección del cadáver de Pegaso” © Julio Pazos Barrera.

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