let’s say that you won the race
and that the prize
was another race
that you didn’t drink champagne
but your own sweat
that you didn’t hear cheering
but dogs barking
and that your own shadow
was your sole
and disloyal competitor
—
digamos que ganaste la carrera
y que el premio
era otra carrera
que no bebiste el vino de la victoria
sino tu propia sal
que jamás escuchaste vítores
sino ladridos de perros
y que tu sombra
fue tu única
y desleal competidora
[©Blanca Varela 2020, ©Carlos Lara 2020, reprinted with permission from Rough Song published by The Song Cave in 2020)