This Translation Tuesday, we present “Shipwreck” and “Landscape” by Colombian editor, music journalist, and one-time candy vendor Michael Benítez Ortiz. Writing the oh-so-ordinary at a tilt, Ortiz imbues the commonest of surroundings with a new, often despairing perspective. Translated with fidelity by Jackson Reed, the following works serve as an introduction to the idiosyncratic work of this emergent poet. Read on!
Shipwreck
The sky is the sea standing on its head
where my paper planes
drown.
Landscape
The night:
a mass grave of stars.
The rivers:
tears of pregnant women.
Tree branches:
dismembered children’s arms.
The rain:
condensed blood in the sky’s refrigerator.