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Translated by Mónica de la Torre

Peter Krebs, “Prickly Pears,” (2004).

Section 9&amp;#151;Scene 2&amp;#151;Interior&amp;#151;Day<br>
</b><br>
<br>
Miss Henrietta: pearl necklace, Victorian nightgown.<br>
Miss Henrietta greeting the detective in the drawing room:<br>
would you care for a cup of tea?<br>
<br>
It&amp;#146;s a difficult ceremony, and not precisely Japanese, <br>
Miss Henrietta serving tea, that is, if to spill <br>
is the same as to serve:<br>
<br>
the empty cup floating on liquid: a gentleman&amp;#146;s urinal<br>
more than precious china and nonetheless<br>
precious: Miss Henrietta<br>
<br>
alleges: high pressure, pills, side-effects;<br>
she confesses: target shooting is not my forte;<br>
nervous laughs: sugar?<br>
<br>
A smile: one half being traced on the detective&amp;#146;s face<br>
the other half lost in the horse races. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Poster <br>
</b><br>
<br>
Thesis: the Ocelot Jim&amp;eacute;nez: 189 lbs., 5&amp;#146;7&amp;quot;, face. <br>
Antithesis: Dr. Abyss: 196 lbs., 5&amp;#146;8&amp;quot;, heel. <br>
<br>
Synthesis: two wrestlers tangled in a knot are not a synthesis:<br>
it is a lock: the embrace  <br>
of the upside-down bear: lona!<br>
<br>
Hypothesis: after <br>
losing the mask he chose to lose<br>
what he had left in pulquer&amp;iacute;as and cheap cabarets: what a clich&amp;eacute;:<br>
<br>
the Ocelot Jim&amp;eacute;nez: an anonymous photogravure<br>
printed on a sheet of oblivion: a poster<br>
on the leprous wall.   <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Ranchera Song <br>
</b><br>
<br>
They call him the Anti charro: the Apocalitzin Mariachi:<br>
he&amp;#146;s made a pact with the Devil, has ties with the narcos<br>
and a medium-sized prickly pear for a heart:<br>
ay, instead of a heart<br>
<br>
a throbbing prickly pear full of thorns: a merciless<br>
whimp: the Anticharro<br>
<br>
fills<br>
bottles with emptiness: he drinks<br>
so much his eyes drip <br>
tears of tequila: sublimated urine: salud! <br>
<br>
A maguey another maguey and then nothing: a desolate <br>
landscape: this is the Anti charro: a repenting body<br>
howling for his soul: a body and then<br>
an absence: black star: <br>
ay, black star.<br>
<br>
Ay: he&amp;#146;s sulking<br>
this son-of-the-Llorona; they do the same when insulting:<br>
ayayayayay: the choir of the drunks.     <br>
<br>
<i><br>
Luis Felipe Fabre was born in Mexico City in 1974. He received the poetry prize from </i>Punto de Partida<i> magazine in 1995. He is the author of two books, </i>Vida quieta<i> (ICCM &amp;#150; Parque Lira, 2000) and </i>Una temporada en el Mictl&amp;aacute;n<i> (Mantarraya Ediciones, 2003).<br>