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Poem-a-day

disagreement

translated from the Spanish by Andrés Fernández

(to my sister)

(the deafening
sound
of the sea
comes 
between
us both)

I say to her:
I think
we're
drowned

she replies:
no
We're not
drowned

I say to her:
we're lying
side by side
at the bottom
of the sea

she replies:
no
We are standing
on the shore

I say to her:
I truly
believe
we've
already drowned

she replies:
no
We are
breathing
just fine

I say to her:
for me
no 
air
comes
in

she replies:
I have air
for both of us

 

 


 

desacuerdo

 

 (a mi hermana) 

(el rugido 
ensordecedor
del mar 
se interpone
entre 
las dos)
  
yo le digo:
creo 
que estamos 
ahogadas
  
ella responde:
no 
No estamos 
ahogadas

yo le digo:
yacemos 
a la par 
en el fondo 
del mar

ella responde:
no 
Estamos de pie 
en la orilla
  
yo le digo:
de verdad 
creo 
que ya 
nos ahogamos
  
ella responde:
no 
Estamos 
respirando 
muy bien

yo le digo:
a mí 
no 
me 
entra 
aire
  
ella responde:
Yo tengo aire
para las dos

Copyright © 2025 by María Auxiliadora Álvarez. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 29, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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María Auxiliadora Álvarez

María Auxiliadora Álvarez
Photo credit: Laura Fernández-Álvarez
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About Poem-a-Day

Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Randall Mann is the Guest Editor of August. Read or listen to a Q&A with Mann about his curatorial process, and learn more about the 2025 Guest Editors. Support Poem-a-Day.  

If you have any questions about Poem-a-Day, visit our Poem-a-Day FAQ.

Previous Poems

Title Author Date
The Banjo Player Fenton Johnson 06/30/2013
Poppies on the Wheat Helen Hunt Jackson 06/29/2013
Prayer Robert Glück 06/28/2013
Getting Close Victoria Redel 06/26/2013
Tang Bruce Cohen 06/26/2013
Why I Am Not a Buddhist Charles Bernstein 06/25/2013
Permanence Denise Duhamel 06/24/2013
Flush or Faunus Elizabeth Barrett Browning 06/23/2013
Summer in the South Paul Laurence Dunbar 06/22/2013
Epistle: Leaving Kerrin McCadden 06/21/2013

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