by Anna Gual | Translated by AKaiser
Between the light and the stone,
the microorganism
that resembles you.
You find a magnifying glass and close in:
her gaze is yours.
Flesh of your flesh.
No one can deny,
other than your great grandmother,
the crops of wheat
and the flakes of straw
that gathered in her hair
one hundred and thirty years ago.
She’s now a microscopic being
that breathes. Nothing else.
To breathe after death.
We will breathe after death.
Anna Gual is one of Catalunya’s most vital poetic voices. Her quests, and the singular ways she goes about and records them, draws in poets, readers, and critics alike. Anna’s work has been translated into French, Italian and Spanish, and is now translated into English by AKaiser. The collected and selected “Unnameable” is forthcoming 2025 with Zephyr Press. https://annagual.cat
AKaiser is the Pushcart Prize-nominated poet of glint (Milk & Cake Press) and translator of Catalan, French & Spanish. More recent work appears in Allium, Four Way Review, MPT and POETRY. AK was awarded an NEA Translation Fellowship for the English translation of the work of Catalan poet Anna Gual. Unnameable is forthcoming 2025 with Zephyr Press. https://akaiser.org