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Poem-a-day

Somber Bull

translated from the Spanish by Craig Epplin

I come from fear 
I feed you dread,

I break the bread of shivers 
among your poor.

I hear boards creaking 
scratched by some perverse animal.

I step into the dark 
I sit in the midst of its dense back.

Sitting there I ask to hear 
your cruelest of stories.

I welcome terror, that somber bull, 
I fight for your name held in his jaws.

I taste the fruit whose coarse skin 
is eaten by beasts who’ve never tasted honey

There’s no more bitter food
than the fruit of love traversed by doubt.

 


 

Ese Toro Sombrío

 

Vengo del miedo. 
con el pavor te alimento,

el pan de su escalofrío lo corto 
entre tus pobres.

Oigo maderas crujir 
por un rasguño de animal perverso.

Entró en la oscuridad. 
me siento al centro de su pastoso fondo.

Desde allí te pido que me cuentes 
tu historia más cruel.

Saludo al terror, ese toro sombrío, 
me disputó tu nombre entre sus fauces.

Pruebo la fruta cuya corteza rugosa 
comen bestias que no conocen el sabor de lamiel.

No hay alimento más amargo 
que un fruto del amor atravesado por la duda.

Copyright © 2025 by Andrea Cote. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 5, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Andrea Cote

Andrea Cote
Photo credit: Lina Castaño
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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
When I Became La Promesa Peggy Robles-Alvarado 10/06/2020
California Rafael Campo 10/05/2020
Love Opened a Mortal Wound Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 10/04/2020
Birds in Flight, 1965 Enrique Villasis 10/03/2020
brd Anthony Cody 10/02/2020
Pledge Allegiance Natalie Scenters-Zapico 10/01/2020
Like an Auto-Tune of Authentic Love Carmen Giménez 09/30/2020
In Praise of Dreams Gary Soto 09/29/2020
Anniversary Diannely Antigua 09/28/2020
The Teller of Tales Gabriela Mistral 09/27/2020

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