the macaws
by René morales, trans. Willy Palomo

On the border soldiers teach migrants
to perform oral sex. That’s the Mexican visa.
You will need it to pass under the bridge

That is love here
a bit of gangrene mixed with pain
a postcard from downtown Tapachula with the phrase

                                    I WISH YOU WERE HERE

A cock bursting with cum
beating fierce as a second heart
one dawn full of black spume

A brothel with red lights
that bleeds out every night

Here love is another word for hunger. 

Translator’s Note: Because of their gaudy make-up, sex workers are referred to as “guacamayas” in the Spanish of Chiapas. “Guacamaya” is the Spanish for “macaw.”

René Morales Hernández was born 1981 in Chiapas. He has published in the literary magazines Solario, Viento en Vela, Lenguaraz, Shampoo, Punto de Partida and Alforja, as well as the newspapers El Diario de Chiapas, El Universal and La Jornada. His poems can be found in the books Tentación de decir (UNAM, 2002) and Espacio en disidencia (Praxis-Velamen, 2005). René Morales Hernández (Ocozocoautla de Espinoza, Chiapas, 1981). Licenciado en Lengua y Literaturas Hispánicas por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Ha publicado en las revistas Solario, Viento en Vela, Lenguaraz, Shampoo, Punto de Partida y Alforja, así como en los periódicos El Diario de Chiapas, El Universal y La Jornada. Su obra poética está en los libros Tentación de decir (UNAM, 2002) y Espacio en disidencia (Praxis-Velamen, 2005).