Birds Sometimes Forget
A veces los pájaros olvidan
Birds sometimes forget their monogamous nature,
the male lark bunting would say if he had read the pertinent research
and unaware the neighbor had sired 30% of his children
was in the mood to give explanations.
And if his steady mate pecked for more details on the offense,
he would say the stranger’s cooing seemed a refuge in the night
and from behind that plumage looked a lot like hers.
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A veces los pájaros olvidan su monogamia natural,
diría el gorrión macho si hubiera leído los estudios pertinentes
y no sabiendo que el vecino sembró un tercio de sus hijos,
estuviese por la labor de explicarse,
y si la hembra le picotease, exigiendo más detalles,
diría que esos arrullos consolaban en la noche
y por detrás ambos plumajes se parecían.
Emily R. Frankenberg (Princeton, New Jersey , 1981) has resided in Seville, Spain since 2006. She writes in both Spanish and English, and her work has appeared in publications from various countries. Currently, she is self-studying the Latin language and Roman literature.
See more of her work in 8.4 and 8.4 again