From Rough Song, a collection of poetry, which was published last month by The Song Cave. Varela (1926–2009) was a Peruvian poet and the first woman to win the Federico García Lorca International Poetry Prize. Translated from the Spanish.

the dear animal
whose bones are a remembrance
      a signal in the air
never having shadow nor place
from the head of a pin
      I thought

he was a slight glint
the grain of the earth upon the grain
      of the earth
the self-eclipse

the dear animal
whose passing is endless
      it leaves me spinning