Guainambí
Tominejo
The last
hummingbird
Bracing
his skin
Before going
to sleep
Perpetual
swarms
sleek
full of
wind
So
silent
Breathing so
Come squeak and streak
Straight
beaming rays
Sudden turn
Here all is sweet!
Here all are obese!
Dusky
felt shadow
Panting
to death
Smogged in flames
my hummingbird!
Broken
Blonding
In the
wasteland
a reflection
dancing
All
will go away!
Vicuña, Cecilia. “Guainambí Tominejo, the Last Hummingbird.” Trans. Suzanne Jill Levine. Unravelling Words & the Weaving of Water. Ed. Eliot Weinberger. Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 1992. pp. 147-49.