Friday Carnival

They dress up.

They choose a face from the closet they don’t have        on Thursdays

and comb a little flash into                       their worn       out       strut.

I let them buy me a drink

for pity’s sake

                                                                  and later, their  common places

                                                                  stain my coat.

On Monday they will go back to work

                                          dra   gg   ing their feet all the way

and will recount to everyone in detail

                                          the novel their lips and mine

                                    will never write.

Translated by Curtis Bauer
“Friday Carnival” is from Nanas para hombres grises (Lullabies For Grey Men) (Diputación de Huelva, 2006).

You can read and listen to the poem in the original Spanish here.