Three Poems from Flesh of Leviathan

Chus Pato

Translated from the Galician by Erín Moure

Volition

it’d have all the characteristics of the series (poetry) but could not be included: a
poem/would be a limit
simultaneously exception and paradigm
written not just with names, but with the passions that dictate names: a stroke of
wind a watch of nightingales
for a moment the gaze of the past and of the future (angels) would cross paths in
it and we’d live in the present

it can’t be written down

he/she/one/ pledged their life in this unforgettable

Volition (2)

he/she
/one
whosoever writes
and in so doing, has their face marked
by the claws of the animal that chose
or was assigned us

of what material are wings
at the end of time
right now
am I revelling in a time
that folds in on itself and shatters?

a door in the sky
(you masticate the clear flesh of the solstice
the night of winter)
bitterness in the gut
sweetness in the mouth

and a murmur in Hades

Volition (3)

Whosoever crosses the wilds and returns
admits to no one
dreams of the voice
and attuned to the voice
wakens