El Conde Sings “Babaila”
*Opening line from Luis Palés Matos’s “Majestad negra,” from Tuntún de pasa y grifería
Every breath I swallow is
another specter,
corpse compressed into my
lungs
until I spit it back out in
song—
guarachar means trumpet bodies out of caskets.
Corpse compressed into my
lungs,
reminder someone will spit
me out one day.
Guarachar means trumpet bodies out of caskets
and what’s a casket but the
back of a mouth?
Reminder someone will spit
me out one day?
Have you ever heard a
prieto sing,
wonder what’s a casket
but the back of a mouth,
place where every suena
rests?
Have you ever heard a
prieto sing?
Every breath I swallow is
another specter.
Place where every suena
rests
until I spit it back out in
song.