Watch of the 12th to the 13th of June, 1995
The endless cycle of life and death
passes through the intricate route of the clinic.
My little knowledge would not be able to explain
the horrible turmoil that I see every night.
There is not rest in the blood of the living nor
fragile pulses in the veins of the dying.
When I see a delicately made and closed bed,
I am seeing the arrangement of all of our dead.
Where they have put a tongue, bled dry
I see an instant moment of a sphincter.
Within the whiteness of the whole building
burns the unknown, isolated sugar of the fever.
In order to see more gleams of phosphine I go on noting
on this page the velocity of oxygen and the moon.
And it’s like this if everything were to have been dissected:
The shoes of a nurse resound through the hospital.
From Diario de una enfermera (Isla Correyero). Trans. Christina Kienzle.
You did a great job Christina! Your translation sounds really good and "flows" well. Also it creates a really powerful effect on the reader; for example, in the verse that says "Within the whiteness of the whole building / burns the unknown" it creates a feeling of worried anticipation/fear. I also really liked how certain parts rhymed, such as in the fourth verse.
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