Isaac Esau Carrillo Can was born in Peto, Yucatán, Mexico. He received the
Nezahualcoyotl National Prize in Literature Written in Indigenous Languages
in 2010 and 2011. In 2008 he received first place for narrative in the Mayan
language from the Autonomous University of Yucatán. In 2007 he received
the National Prize for Literature written in the Mayan language. Presently he
is a professor of Writing, Reading and Grammar at the Municipal Academy of
the Mayan Language in Mérida, Yucatán, México. His most recent book is U
yóok´ otilo’ob áak’ ab/Danzas de la noche (Dances of the Night).
Jonathan Harrington has published translations in World Literature Today,
Visions International, The Dirty Goat, International Poetry Review, and other
magazines. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has published
ten books in English including novels, poetry, short stories, and essays. His
chapbooks of poems include Yesterday, A Long Time Ago, Here/Aqui (bilingual),
and Handcuffed to the Jukebox. Jonathan lives on the Hacienda San Antonio
Xpakay in Yucatan, Mexico.
Winter 2012
Table of Contents - Vol. VIII, No. 4
Poetry Translations Fiction Non-fiction Reviews
Isaac Esau Carrillo Can
I scared away the dark moments of my life
and they flapped their wings over my head.
Now they chatter on my roof;
they do not want to leave,
nor do I want to go outside to shoo them away.
I am afraid the owl will come
and foreshadow with his song
the silencing of my voice.
I am the water that you pour on your back,
the water that falls to the place where dreams are born.
I am the hipil that caresses your beauty,
the rebozo that hangs entwined around your neck.
I am the hammock that embraces you night after night.
© Jonathan Harrington
Ahuyentar el miedo
Ahuyenté los momentos oscuros de mi vida
Y agitaron sus alas sobre mi cabeza,
Ahora chacharean en mi techo,
No quieren irse,
Yo, tampoco quiero salir a echarlos fuera,
Tengo miedo que venga el búho
Y augure con su canto que mi voz se extinga.
Soy el agua que viertes en tu espalda,
El agua que desciende al sitio en el que nacen los sueños
Soy el hipil que acaricia tu hermosura
El rebozo que cuelga enredándose en tu cuello
Soy la hamaca que te abraza noche a noche.
I’ixtaj saajkil
Ahuyenté los momentos oscuros de mi vida
Y agitaron sus alas sobre mi cabeza,
Ahora chacharean en mi techo,
No quieren irse,
Yo, tampoco quiero salir a echarlos fuera,
Tengo miedo que venga el búho
Y augure con su canto que mi voz se extinga.
Teen le ja’ ka yalik ta paacho’
Le ku bin u yayalankil tak tu’ux ku síijil kili’ich náayo’
Teen le iipil báaytik a ki’ichpamilo’
Teen la bóoch’ ku leechlankil ta kaalo’
Teen la k’áan méek’ikech tuláakal áak’abo’
