qarrtsiluni

by José Eugenio Sánchez, translated by Anna Rosen Guercio

la eta mató a estudiantes guardias choferes enfermeras ministros
el ira a señoras que iban al súper
idi amin a congresistas campesinos jardineros obreros militares jockeys
pederastas sacerdotes
augusto mató las relaciones diplomáticas
nn mató a kennedy
la cia mató a jimi hendrix al wilson jesucristo karen carpenter
janis joplin john lennon beavis & butthead
el fbi a ma baker vincent vega
tommy larrin al capone felix pappalardi
la kgb a maïakovski trotsky y bukowski
la bbc mató a lady di
y a la madre teresa de calcuta
y a 1551 pasajeros del titanic
y a 17 tribunas de la liga premier
la kraft mató a la heinz
la pepsi a la coca
la coca a los gringos
el ddt a los piojos
el lsd a los protestantes
el pvc al poliestireno
al quaeda a sí mismos
el kkk a malcom x bob marley martin luther king garrincha y otelo
jp ii mató a jp i
aburto a colosio
yolanda a selena
camelia a emilo
fuenteovejuna al comendador
el aburrimiento a syd vicius
o jota simpson no mató a nadie
la policía mató indígenas en chiapas
el manchester con gol de último minuto mató las esperanzas del bayern
la emi mató a the beatles
la us army mató a miles de agresivos ancianos y niños
de korea japón vietnam nicaragua panamá irak yugoslavia
y a 140 de un edificio en oklahoma
el video mató a la estrella de radio
el pri mató 1 972 545 kilómetros cuadrados
la pgr mató dos pájaros de un tiro
la sep mató la ortografía
william burroughs a su esposa

:la vida es un invento del dinero

*

eta killed students policemen chauffeurs nurses officials
the ira, ladies who went to buy groceries
idi amin, congress members farmers gardeners workers soldiers jockeys
child molesters parish priests
augusto killed diplomatic relations
john doe killed kennedy
the cia killed jimi hendrix al wilson jesucristo karen carpenter
janis joplin john lennon beavis & butthead
the fbi, ma baker vincent vega
tommy larrin al capone felix pappalardi
the kgb, maïakovski trotsky and bukowski
the bbc killed lady di
and mother theresa of calcuta
and the titanic’s 1551 passengers
and the premier league’s 17 stadiums
kraft killed heinz
pepsi, coke
coke, gringos
ddt, lice
lsd, protestants
pvc, styrofoam
al qaida, themselves
the kkk, malcolm x bob marley martin luther king garrincha and othello
jp ii killed jp i
aburto, colosio
yolanda, selena
camelia, emilo
fuenteovejuna, the commander
boredom, sid vicious
oj simpson didn’t kill anybody
the police killed indigenous people in chiapas
manchester killed bayern’s hopes with a last minute goal
emi killed the beatles
the us army killed thousands of dangerous old people and children
from korea japan vietnam nicaragua panama iraq yugoslavia
and 140 in a building in oklahoma
video killed the radio star
the pri killed 1,972,545 square kilometers
the pgr killed two birds with one stone
the sep killed orthography
william burroughs, his wife

:life was invented by money

Download the podcast (Sánchez’s part of the reading may also be seen on YouTube)

José Eugenio Sánchez is an award-winning poet from Monterrey, Mexico, whose books include Physical graffiti and La felicidad es una pistola caliente, along with several others. His aggressively playful and irreverent work eagerly engages American and Mexican rock music and movies, soccer, drug culture, as well as art history, swine flu, classical music, and contemporary politics. His escenas sagradas del oriente was published last year by Almadía with the title poem presented in graphic form and bilingually with Anna Rosen Guercio’s English version.

Anna Rosen Guercio is a translator and poet finishing her PhD in Comparative Literature at UC Irvine (Iowa MFA ’07, Brown BA ’03). A board member of the American Literary Translation Association, she is currently at work a dissertation on world literature, poetry, and translation theory. Her most recent publication was a review of Jonathan Mayhew’s Aprocryphal Lorca for the Routledge journal, Translation Studies, but her poetry and translations have appeared in journals such as Faultlines, Little Village, eXchanges, circumference, and Words Without Borders.