So I'll shift now and tell you that "Debe Ser Un
Malentendido," "It Must Be a Misunderstanding,"
is the title of the most recent book by Coral Bracho, one
of Mexico's most signal and influential poets.
She writes in this book with non-judgemental affection
and compassionate watchfulness of her mother's last years with
Alzheimer's.
Her book is never mournful or morbid,
but filled with an uncommon tenderness
and, sometimes, it's quite funny.
I'll read just three poems of hers.
They're small.
"Observaciones".
Las piezas del rompecabezas se pierden.
Pero no la mirada que los sabe suyo.
Las formas, los objetos, se funden, se desmoronan.
Pero el sentido del conjunto persiste entre momentos,
entre ficciones, bajo fracturas incesantes como un umbral, un
acedero.