via: estabanlocos

Translation of Layla Martínez’s untitled poem, from the original Spanish. The poem belongs to the unedited El libro de la crueldad (The Book of Cruelty).

We denied
the demented transit
of the birds in heat
until they crashed
against the glass
of the window.
The hysteric flight
of the praying mantids
until they were devoured
by cruel children.
Since then
we’ve only managed to walk
from one side to the other
with dilated pupils
like recently run-over
animals.