Birds

For several centuries

famous birds have flown over

the vast fields of poetry

the swallow the nightingale the lark

the skylark the linnet the hummingbird

the raven the golden oriole

and of course the phoenix

have all been invited by poets

to populate their forests

decorate their skies

and stuff their metaphors

I’m going to stick my neck out here

for discriminated birds / those that never

or only rarely make an appearance

those poor forgotten birds

that are full of memory

and so here I write

the canary the sparrow the thrush the blackbird

the widow the starling the cardinal

the turtledove the magpie the gardener

the kingfisher the king-bird

so that they can make their way into poetry at least this once

even if it’s just / as on this occasion

through the back door.

Translated from the Spanish by Charles D. Hatfield

From “Little Stones at my Window” by Mario Benedetti (Curbstone Press: 272 pp., $19.95 paper)