ah mulato tu dedo

ah mulato tu dedo

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dónde lo dejaste

enredado en qué helice en qué fauce

quién lo conserva de recuerdo en un frasquito de cristal

quién lo usa para carnada con qué pescar tiburones

quién lo apoya en su barbilla para otear pelícanos y

murallas.

acaso, mulato

fue alimento de alguien que se moría de miedo en una

balsa

vadeando algún río

trepando alguna verja

cruzando algún desierto

para cambiar de identidad.

lo tiene acaso algún niñito moribundo que quiso

respirar por tu piel

mientras caía al fondo

—mantarraya de sal

las aguas andaban vivas por tu dedo.

las aguas ardían de huellas dactilar

mulato

quién te besó el dedo de cuajo

quién te lo arrancó tierno . . .

los guardacostas te levantaron casi ahogado

para meterte en el corral

y el documento ausente de tu dedo te traiciona

traspapelado

quién te toma huella ahora mulato

ah?

(click here for the English translation)

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Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.

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Editor and publisher, The Nation

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