If the Arab musician Plucks the lute strings With an eagle quill To awaken the notes, What hand plucks With what bird’s quill The wound in you That awakens the word?
From Desolation of the Chimera by Luis Cernuda, translated by Stephen Kessler. Copyright © 2010 by Luis Cernuda and Stephen Kessler. Used by permission of White Pine Press. All rights reserved.