1/
When the poem intonates aspects, from ones
gathered together, and others, kept apart
in truth it intonates 45 pickup trucks
equipped with x-rays for the SSP
intonates in truth 43 ion scanners
for SEDENA, 155 CT-30 detection kits
The poem intonates unmanned aircraft
Mi-17 helicopters, as well as armored
vehicles, motorbikes
command posts, and amphibious vehicles applied
to public security tasks
The poem intonates 173 dogs
trained for the SAT, PGR, and SSP
Nowhere do you read The world that produced me
Nothing about the 173 dogs
***
When we read literature
we read the budget
of the Mexican army
When we perceive artworks
we percieve the budget
of the Mexican army
***
If some element of the structure
does not fulfill criteria of resistance
new articulations
are inserted
with constant moments
With constant moments
such as the company Colt Defense
and its thousand 5.56mm rifles
for the use of state forces
With constant moments
such as the company Sig Sauer
that delivered 7,384 firearms to Mexico
In 2015: 3,060 assault rifles, 505
machine guns and 3,819
pistols. Other similar companies have done
business with Mexico
With constant moments, sculpted
by the Glock company
***
Constant moments
sculpted by a series
of semiautomatic weapons
designed and produced
by the manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H
of Deutsch-Wagram, Austria
With 11,231 constant moments
designed, produced, and sold
to the Secretary of National Defense
for another 3 million dollars
With constant moments like the howler
monkey (Alouatta palliata) with its oral
apparatus specialized with its hyoid bones
and developed larynx
forming with the mandible a resonating chamber
that allows the powerful amplification of
the sounds, aspects gathered together
aspects kept apart
***
Constant moments like the white-tailed
deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
that marks its territory by rubbing
objects gathered together and kept apart
with its preorbital, tarsal, and interdigital glands
With constant moments like
the volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi)
with its greyish belly that communicates with
others through a scent secreted
by its glands, in aspects
gathered together and aspects kept apart
Constant moments like
the creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)
with solitary yellow-colored flowers
and whose leaves divide into others
even smaller with a similar aspect to leather
and appear as if covered in tiny hairs and resin
covered in aspects gathered together and aspects kept apart
4/
The Palacio de Bellas Artes was officially
inaugurated on September 29th, 1934
with the theatrical work La verdad sospechosa
by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
The circular lamp in the ceiling of the principal
salon designed by the Hungarian Géza Maróti
represents the Greek god Apollo and is surrounded
by the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
designed for assault, escorting convoys, and reconnaissance
The circular lamp is encircled
by the importation of arms
by Mexico which increased 300%
in the period 2011–2015
The circular lamp is encircled
by the 212,208 SEDENA troops
and is surrounded by 18 EC725
Super Cougar helicopters
***
with a value of 27.5 million Euros, some 600
million pesos
The circular lamp is indistinguishable from the
695 armoured combat vehicles
and the 362 aircraft and the 143 watercraft
***
When writing, we do not romantically confront the blank page
Rather, the confrontation is historical:
: take the side of Sigüenza y Góngora
and protect the Library from the masses
as Mexican letters have done
for centuries
: take the side of lifeforms
the side of the forms of language
that sprout from the riot
***
Beside history
Our own indexicality
1/
When the poem intonates aspects, from ones
gathered together, and others, kept apart
in truth it intonates 45 pickup trucks
equipped with x-rays for the SSP
intonates in truth 43 ion scanners
for SEDENA, 155 CT-30 detection kits
The poem intonates unmanned aircraft
Mi-17 helicopters, as well as armored
vehicles, motorbikes
command posts, and amphibious vehicles applied
to public security tasks
The poem intonates 173 dogs
trained for the SAT, PGR, and SSP
Nowhere do you read The world that produced me
Nothing about the 173 dogs
***
When we read literature
we read the budget
of the Mexican army
When we perceive artworks
we percieve the budget
of the Mexican army
***
If some element of the structure
does not fulfill criteria of resistance
new articulations
are inserted
with constant moments
With constant moments
such as the company Colt Defense
and its thousand 5.56mm rifles
for the use of state forces
With constant moments
such as the company Sig Sauer
that delivered 7,384 firearms to Mexico
In 2015: 3,060 assault rifles, 505
machine guns and 3,819
pistols. Other similar companies have done
business with Mexico
With constant moments, sculpted
by the Glock company
***
Constant moments
sculpted by a series
of semiautomatic weapons
designed and produced
by the manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H
of Deutsch-Wagram, Austria
With 11,231 constant moments
designed, produced, and sold
to the Secretary of National Defense
for another 3 million dollars
With constant moments like the howler
monkey (Alouatta palliata) with its oral
apparatus specialized with its hyoid bones
and developed larynx
forming with the mandible a resonating chamber
that allows the powerful amplification of
the sounds, aspects gathered together
aspects kept apart
***
Constant moments like the white-tailed
deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
that marks its territory by rubbing
objects gathered together and kept apart
with its preorbital, tarsal, and interdigital glands
With constant moments like
the volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi)
with its greyish belly that communicates with
others through a scent secreted
by its glands, in aspects
gathered together and aspects kept apart
Constant moments like
the creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)
with solitary yellow-colored flowers
and whose leaves divide into others
even smaller with a similar aspect to leather
and appear as if covered in tiny hairs and resin
covered in aspects gathered together and aspects kept apart
4/
The Palacio de Bellas Artes was officially
inaugurated on September 29th, 1934
with the theatrical work La verdad sospechosa
by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
The circular lamp in the ceiling of the principal
salon designed by the Hungarian Géza Maróti
represents the Greek god Apollo and is surrounded
by the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
designed for assault, escorting convoys, and reconnaissance
The circular lamp is encircled
by the importation of arms
by Mexico which increased 300%
in the period 2011–2015
The circular lamp is encircled
by the 212,208 SEDENA troops
and is surrounded by 18 EC725
Super Cougar helicopters
***
with a value of 27.5 million Euros, some 600
million pesos
The circular lamp is indistinguishable from the
695 armoured combat vehicles
and the 362 aircraft and the 143 watercraft
***
When writing, we do not romantically confront the blank page
Rather, the confrontation is historical:
: take the side of Sigüenza y Góngora
and protect the Library from the masses
as Mexican letters have done
for centuries
: take the side of lifeforms
the side of the forms of language
that sprout from the riot
***
Beside history
Our own indexicality
Subject
Translated from the Spanish by NAFTA. The North American Free Translation Agreement/No America Fraught Translation Argument (NAFTA), ratified in 2019, currently consists of three poets writing from the occupied territories of Canada, Mexico, and the United States: Whitney Celeste DeVos, Zane Koss, and Gerónimo Sarmiento Cruz.
The poems appear courtesy of the author and Cardboard House Press. They originally appeared in Commonplace (Cardboard House Press, 2022).