What Comes Back

By Javier Peñalosa and Robin Myers

• What Comes Back (originally, Los que regresan) is Peñalosa’s debut for English audiences. He has written four books of poetry, all published in Spanish. Los que regresan won Mexico’s prestigious Xirau Icaza Poetry Prize in 2017.

• Peñalosa’s narrative draws inspiration from Mexico City’s history: an ancient lake in the area was drained so cities could be built on the (newly) dry land

• Javier Peñalosa M. shares a name with his grandfather (Javier Peñalosa Castro), who was also a poet

• Peñalosa received his MFA in creative writing in Spanish from NYU

• A 2023 NEA Translation Fellow and winner of the 2019 Words Without Borders Translation Contest, Robin Myers is an acclaimed and prolific Spanish-to-English translator

• Audience: Fans of narrative poetry, poetry in translation, and bilingual Spanish/English collections; fans of eco-poetry and stories of migration; fans of Mexico City and South America’s poets; fans of surreal or disembodied poetry

• Language: English
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
• Release date: Apr 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9781619322967

Book preview

Cover: What Comes Back by Javier Peñalosa M. and Robin Myers (translator)

What Comes Back

JAVIER PEÑALOSA M.

TRANSLATED BY ROBIN MYERS

Logo: Copper Canyon Press

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This e-book edition was created through a special grant provided by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Contents

Title Page

Note to the Reader

What Comes Back / Los que regresan

We set out when the last thrush took flight

Nos pusimos en marcha cuando voló el último de los zorzales

Late on the second night, we built a fire

Ya bien entrada la segunda noche encendimos un fuego

One carried a handful of coins

Uno cargaba un puñado de monedas

Those were the days of the Great Works

Eran los días de las Grandes Obras

Because there was more than one of us

Porque éramos más de uno

At dawn, a line of light appeared in the distance

En la madrugada una línea de luz apareció a lo lejos

It was on the morning of the fourth day

Fue en la mañana del cuarto día

What we loved moved forward too

Lo que amábamos se movía también hacia adelante

Behind the mountain, the riverbed

Detrás del cerro, el cauce

Behind the mountain, the riverbed

Detrás del cerro, el cauce

Landscapes don’t preserve what happens

Los paisajes no conservan lo que sucede

And all we found were stones

Y sólo encontramos piedras

But landscapes also preserve what happens

Pero los paisajes también conservan lo que sucede

We heard rumors that others were gathering

Por rumores supimos que los otros se reunieron

Like someone who turns away for a moment

Como quien gira la cabeza un segundo

None of us knew where to find the red-stained ones

Ninguno de los que estábamos ahí sabía por dónde entraron los teñidos de rojo

But what violent wind has moved them

Pero movidos por qué aire violento

And one of us spoke

Y uno de nosotros tomó la palabra

We spent that same evening circling

Esa misma tarde estuvimos dando vueltas

The path disappeared

Desapareció el camino

Tiny