Seed

At a bus window

steamed by a long journey’s haul

a little boy, his eyes

unrepentantly, almost like lightning

with just one of his fingers drew

the solution to the enigma.

Observing his work

the conjunction of numbers and letters,

he sheathed, unflinching, his sweater’s sleeve

saluting thus the mist and its clearings

in order to admire the landscape.

Translated by Claudia Rojas

“Seed” first appeared in the collection Paseantes (Ediciones del Temple, 2009).

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