Translator’s Note:

Rocío Cerón writes poetry of the body. To read her poems is to experience images in the flesh. The thigh muscle tightens. The skin inside the wrist tingles. Warmth spreads over us in slow waves. Catching and holding the physicality of Cerón’s poems challenged me as a translator. The sensuous tonality of the poetry arises largely from the poet’s energetic noun phrases, largely free of adjectives, which are often more robust than equivalent English noun phrases. The same holds true for Cerón’s use of the passive or impersonal “se” for some verbs associated with noun phrases. The Spanish “se” form carries a far less docile, submissive, or detached quality than the English passive constructed with “to be” before a past participle. 

To capture the weight and power of Cerón’s language, I often replaced a Spanish noun phrase or an impersonal “se” verb with an English translation that included an active, indicative verb. I also searched for opportunities to alternate quickly between Anglo-Saxon and Latinate words in English, to give the translations the changing rhythm of physical movements.

I chose, however, to remain faithful to Cerón’s limited use of adjectives. By avoiding adjective overload, Cerón intensifies her poems. I did not want to lose that intensity, especially in Cerón’s chosen form, the prose poem. The best prose poems in English—Charles Simic and Ada Limón come to mind—rarely modify their nouns. As a result, people, objects, and their actions shine through. This is also the case in Cerón’s work. Her poems of the body also have a body—an idiom to touch, see, hear, and taste. In translating Cerón, I want to honor this body and give it expression in English.