[Pull out of me more than what was left out]

translated from the Spanish by David Francis

Pull out of me more than what was left out: 
for when reaching and defining aporia 
a planet on the other side of its day
ignites in the night of its senses.

Not by force: for the humid temple 
(of Venus, the second) does not take pleasure 
in being wounded by the Berninian arrow 
or by frenzy. Someday you will lay 

lubricants or natural substances 
between the borders with cunning 
prudence, or with salivated caution 

that might ease the burning of your entrance: 
because with love and with ardor in the annals 
of history our nuptials are ciphered.

Reprinted by permission of Circumference Books and the Heirs of Severo Sarduy. “[Pull out of me more than what was left out”] from Footwork by Severo Sarduy, translated by David Francis (Circumference Books, NYC, 2021).