Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 25 minutes ago
#PoetryThursday was created by Lucas from Bits of Lit: youtube.com/channel/UCZ0W29lsDyNkU0HIhcwDojQ
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THINGS MENTIONED:
A Rosario Castellanos Reader (English): amazon.com/-/es/Rosario-Castellanos-ebook/dp/B00CBVSLJS/ref=sr_1_2
Poetry Collection Poesía no eres tú (Spanish) - amazon.com/-/es/Rosario-Castellanos-ebook/dp/B00WY6UZUI/ref=sr_1_1
Valium 10 in Spanish: https://www.revistadelauniversidad.mx/articles/6c2979e4-9148-4c2c-a2c8-853c070addea/valium-10
Valium 10 in English - Translator’s Website: trudythetranslator.com/samples/sample-translation-2
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POEM:
Valium 10, by Rosario Castellanos (Translated by Trudy L. Stull)
Sometimes (and do not tryto play it down,claiming that it doesn’t happen often)your measuring stick breaks.your compass goes missingand now you understand nothing.
The day becomes a seriesof incoherent facts, of dutiesthat you carry out through inertia and out of habit.
And you live it. And you deliver the letterto whom it may it concern. And you teach the classthe same to students and auditors alike.And at night you write up the text that the presswill devour tomorrow.And you watch (oh, but only from above)the running of the house, the perfectcoordination of multiple programs—because the oldest boy is all dressed upto go to a quinceañera danceand the youngest wants to play soccer and the middle onehas a poster of Che next to his record player.
And you go over the expense account and reflect,with the cook, on the costof living and the ars magna combinatoriafrom which the possible and daily menu emerges.
And you even have the will to wash off your makeup,and to apply your facial cream and even to reada few lines before turning out the light.
And now, in the darkness, on the threshold of sleep,you miss what has been lost:the priceless diamond, the navigationmap, the bookwith a hundred basic questions (and their corresponding answers) for a simple conversation, even with the Sphinx.
And you have the unpleasant feelingthat an error slipped into the crosswordThat makes it unsolvable.
And you spell out the name of Chaos. And you cannotsleep unless you openthe bottle and take one of the pillsin which has been condensed,chemically pure, the order of the world.
***
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Twitter: @MarianaMasBooks
The Storygraph: @marianamasbooks
#PoetryThursday was created by Lucas from Bits of Lit: youtube.com/channel/UCZ0W29lsDyNkU0HIhcwDojQ
***
THINGS MENTIONED:
A Rosario Castellanos Reader (English): amazon.com/-/es/Rosario-Castellanos-ebook/dp/B00CBVSLJS/ref=sr_1_2
Poetry Collection Poesía no eres tú (Spanish) - amazon.com/-/es/Rosario-Castellanos-ebook/dp/B00WY6UZUI/ref=sr_1_1
Valium 10 in Spanish: https://www.revistadelauniversidad.mx/articles/6c2979e4-9148-4c2c-a2c8-853c070addea/valium-10
Valium 10 in English - Translator’s Website: trudythetranslator.com/samples/sample-translation-2
***
POEM:
Valium 10, by Rosario Castellanos (Translated by Trudy L. Stull)
Sometimes (and do not tryto play it down,claiming that it doesn’t happen often)your measuring stick breaks.your compass goes missingand now you understand nothing.
The day becomes a seriesof incoherent facts, of dutiesthat you carry out through inertia and out of habit.
And you live it. And you deliver the letterto whom it may it concern. And you teach the classthe same to students and auditors alike.And at night you write up the text that the presswill devour tomorrow.And you watch (oh, but only from above)the running of the house, the perfectcoordination of multiple programs—because the oldest boy is all dressed upto go to a quinceañera danceand the youngest wants to play soccer and the middle onehas a poster of Che next to his record player.
And you go over the expense account and reflect,with the cook, on the costof living and the ars magna combinatoriafrom which the possible and daily menu emerges.
And you even have the will to wash off your makeup,and to apply your facial cream and even to reada few lines before turning out the light.
And now, in the darkness, on the threshold of sleep,you miss what has been lost:the priceless diamond, the navigationmap, the bookwith a hundred basic questions (and their corresponding answers) for a simple conversation, even with the Sphinx.
And you have the unpleasant feelingthat an error slipped into the crosswordThat makes it unsolvable.
And you spell out the name of Chaos. And you cannotsleep unless you openthe bottle and take one of the pillsin which has been condensed,chemically pure, the order of the world.
***
***
Twitter: @MarianaMasBooks
The Storygraph: @marianamasbooks
