Mexican Literature
River
Poetry
What does a river mean in our language?
Is it an earth surface imperfection?
Is it an unutterable hope to our tongue?
Is it a chunk of memories as a bridge?
Is it, perhaps, an extension of the drainage?
Is it a monster like a Pororoca*?
Is it a battlefield?
When they say “river,” what do you see?
Which liquid bathes the riverbanks?
Would you have fun at swimming in it?
Would you take a sunbath there?
Could you fish with your kids in that water?
Or stare at it and be thankful for life?
What’s a river?
What does a river mean in our language?
When you crossed the bridge, what stories did your parents tell?
How it smelt?
When they said “river,” what did you think?
Did you hear the steps of those who could not pay the fee
Of those who didn’t get their bodies buried
And have to wander the shores for one hundred years?
