[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).