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Poem-a-day

[Untitled]

translated from the Spanish by Kristin Dykstra

For Alejandra

The girl wanted to understand poetry. 
“There is grass growing where the flower once was.” 
I wanted her to get it, because that’s how I see the world. 
For her, it’s more logical that a doll would open its eyes in the night. 
That a doll would have children, that’s logical to her. 
She tried to explain to me, but I don’t really get it either. 
I ask her: 
How can I be the father of a t-shirt you made into a doll with your own hands? 
Of course he’s your son! You don’t get it. 
He’s looking for you in the bed, because he doesn’t want to sleep alone! 
Because he doesn’t want to fall out! 
To her, it’s normal for a doll to open its eyes in the night. 

 


 

[Sin título]

 

A Alejandra

La niña quería entender la poesía. 
“Crece la hierba donde la flor estuvo”. 
Yo quería que entendiera porque así yo veo el mundo. 
Para ella es más lógico que una muñeca abra los ojos por la noche. 
Que una muñeca tenga hijos es la lógica para ella. 
Ha tratado de explicarme, pero yo tampoco entiendo bien. 
Le pregunto: 
¿Cómo puedo ser padre yo de un pullover hecho muñeco con tus manos? 
¡Claro que es tu hijo! No entiendes nada. 
¡Te busca en la cama porque no quiere dormir solo! 
¡Porque no quiere caerse! 
Para ella es muy normal que una muñeca abra los ojos en la noche.

Copyright © 2025 by Marcelo Morales. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 26, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Marcelo Morales

Marcelo Morales
Photo credit: Gabriela Reyna
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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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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
A Prayer for my Daughter W. B. Yeats 06/20/2010
The Fly William Blake 06/20/2010
Back Yard Carl Sandburg 06/19/2010
Beginning with Two Lines from Rexroth Ray Gonzalez 06/18/2010
Insomnia Alicia Ostriker 06/17/2010
Electricity Geoffrey Nutter 06/16/2010
Passage I Maureen N. McLane 06/15/2010
Freud James Cummins 06/14/2010
The Art of Poetry [excerpt] Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux 06/12/2010
Compendium of Lost Objects Nicole Cooley 06/11/2010

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