Neegue' ca Just Yesterday

Neegue' ca

Neegue' ca nga
sica ti xcuidi
nacu ti neza lari cubi
xquendaranaxhiee'. 
 
Neegue' ca nga
rilué' xquiibalé yu'du'
ze' ne zeeda
cabidxi yeche' mixa'.
 
Yanna nuaa'
sica ti binidxaapa' bida'na'
ne qui nuxooñenécabe laa,
sica ti gubidxa bidé xiaga
ni gatigá rindisa bi
                    rucheeche laa.
 

Just Yesterday

Just yesterday
my love was
like a kid breaking in
the year's new clothes.
 
Just yesterday
I was a bell
joyfully coming and going
announcing mass.
 
Now I am
like the virgin bride whose lover
refused consummation,
like a sun finished burning
whose ash  
                  is scattered by the wind.
 

This poem was first published in Oxford Magazine

David translated Victor's poems directly from the Zapotec singlehandedly and so we don't have a literal version of this poem.
 

Original Poem by

Victor Terán

Translated by

Shook with Shook Language

Zapotec

Country

Mexico