Ganadería urbana Urban ranch

Ganadería urbana

la ceba de toros en Santiago
ya comienza a progresar. más de treinta mil
cabezas fueron exhibidas este año. dicen
que es producto del cariño y el king grass:
una caña milagrosa que deleita a las mujeres. 
 
el cambio más notable se percibe en Las Calladas,
cada día más dispuestas a rendir y cooperar.
“hermoso trabajo es la ceba de toros”, me dicen. 
 
la bronca está pactada. guapos, que antaño
tuvieron el gobierno de la gleba, se niegan
a aceptar el nuevo orden.
un orden implantado por puticas con poderes. 
 
Santiago de Cuba 
erótica ayer
errática hoy 
calórica siempre. 
 
aquello que antaño fue de heroes
hoy nuestras puticas lo convierten
en bellas plantaciones de king grass. 
 

Urban ranch

the fattening of bulls in Santiago
has begun to progress. more than thirty thousand
head were exhibited this year. they say
it is the product of affection and the king grass:
a miracle cane that delights the women.
 
the change is most noticeable in The Quiet Ones,
every day more disposed to yield and cooperate.
‘fattening bulls is beautiful work’, they tell me.
 
the fight is on. you beauties, who once
ruled the clod, refuse
to accept the new order,
an order implanted by empowered little bitches.
 
Santiago de Cuba,
erotic yesterday
erratic today
too hot always,
 
once the realm of heroes,
today our little bitches turn it
into beautiful plantations of king grass.
 

This poem caused a lot of debate and discomfort, and revealed a gulf between our culture and that of Oscar Cruz. It felt satirical, but it can be very hard to capture tone across languages and there was some uncertainty as to who was the target. Who were ‘The Quiet Ones’? Did ‘little bitches’ signal that this was an anti-feminist poem? In the end we had to ask our literal translator, Serafina Vick, to check with Oscar Cruz who confirmed that it is about the perception that men are ‘guapetones’ (a Latina American idea of male perfection – big and beefy and manly) when really the women are doing whatever they want.

On a slightly different note, we loved the verse about Santiago de Cuba, and spent a lot of time coming up with ‘too hot always’ – just ‘hot always’ sounded a bit too sexy when we were assured the Spanish word was entirely meteorological, and the equivalent of Welsh people making a joke about rain. Boiling, sweaty, clammy, steamy and scorching were all mooted, but we decided ‘too hot’ conveyed the humour and brought less metaphorical baggage.

Cattle urban

the fattening of bulls in Santiago
already begins to progress. more than thirty thousand
heads were exhibited this year. they say
that it is product of affection and the king grass:
a cane miraculous that delights to the women.
 
the change most noticeable is perceived in The Silents,
every day more disposed to yield and to co-operate.
“beautiful work is the fattening of bulls”, they tell me.
 
the fight is decided. beautiful ones, what longing
they had the government for the clod, they deny themselves
to accept the new order.
an order implanted by little bitches with powers.
 
Santiago de Cuba
erotic yesterday
erratic today
hot always.
 
that what longing was of heroes
today our little bitches it convert
in beautiful plantations of king grass.
 

Original Poem by

Oscar Cruz

Translated by

Serafina Vick with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Spanish

Country

Cuba