Nancy Morejon
(1944-)
Nancy Morejón is one of the most preeminent and internationally successful Cuban poets today. Growing up within Cuba's revolutionary process, she became the first widely published black woman poet in Cuba, winning prizes in Cuba and internationally
for her work. As a Cuban revolutionary and poet, she is known for celebrating women and blackness in her poems.
Although his dream was to throw you into the Mississippi,
that cannibal in opaque uniform
has silently burned his knee
into your inert neck.
The smoke from your flesh rises to the wet sky.
Skipping among the flowers, the air from your bronchi
chases after its ghost until you bite
the cannibal’s bloody fang.
And you breathe energy, untamed, onto the wet asphalt,
under the still shadow of an apple tree
in Minneapolis,
where we will place, for you,
this brilliant, this
immaculate black prince of ours,
in your memory
Cerro, Cuba. June 4, 2020.
[Translated by Ivette Romero. *Príncipe negro/Black Prince is the name of a dark red rose.]
Príncipe Negro para George Floyd
Aunque su sueño era lanzarte al Mississippi,
aquel caníbal de uniforme opaco
ha quemado en silencio su rodilla
sobre tu cuello inerte.
El humo de tu carne va subiendo hasta el cielo mojado.
Saltando entre las flores, el aire de tus bronquios
persigue su fantasma hasta morder
el colmillo sangriento del caníbal.
Y tú alientas, indómito, sobre el asfalto húmedo,
bajo la sombra quieta de un manzano
en Minneapolis,
donde colocaremos, para ti,
este brillante, este limpio
príncipe negro nuestro,
a tu memoria.
Cerro, Cuba 4 de junio, 2020
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