Hormone of Darkness

Tilsa Otta

Translated from the Spanish

A nightclub doesn’t make a summerBut I believe in perreoEternal recreationIn the agitation of the critical massBending before itselfWho hasn’t dreamed of the reason?What goodWhat good books you’ve gotNever forgetThat porn pages are insecureThey activate memories of other livesAnd then you can’t close themNever forget usWe transmit the virus of the international language of lovePagan godsGave us life but we want moreI have three X chromosomes but I want ++++I want to be the hormone of darknessI want to seeWho can open their mouth widerWho has the longer tongueMore police disarmed and reassembledWho put an orifice where there was a lawA cock where there was a whistleHysterical holding up trafficThe stoplights blush so redThe windows to the street aren’t workingOur bodiesLeak and we danceIn an ethereopatriarchal position i.e.Hardly metaphysically present and the cloudsSo occupied, rain and how they comeOver the sewers with a critical baby pout on citrusAssassins on shift around the worldThey spared our lives but we want moreI have three wishes but I want +All the geniusAll the desireI want to be the hormone of your growthRescue our friendsLet’s bed up to recover dreamsThe world won’t let up observing usThe editor will cover the intimate partsWith black holesNever forgetThat we’re the fill of the same stuffed godKids hug when they’re afraidLuckily there are all kinds of folxImaginary Friends and real friendsFolx who believe in you and that’s why we’re possibleNever forgetThere are planets in other lives

La Hormona De La Oscuridad

Un club nocturno no hace un veranoMas creo en el perreoEterno recreoEn la agitación de la masa críticaInclínandose ante sí misma¿Quién no ha soñado con la razón?Qué buenoQué buenos libros tienesNunca olvidesQue las páginas porno son insegurasActivan recuerdos de otras vidasY luego no puedes cerrarlasNunca nos olvidesTransmitimos el virus del lenguaje internacional del amorDioses paganosNos dieron la vida pero queremos másTengo tres crosomas X pero quiero ++++Quiero ser la hormona de la oscuridadQuiero verQuién puede abrir más la bocaQuién tiene la lengua más largaMás policías desarmados y vueltos armarQuién puso un orificio donde había una leyUn pito donde había un silbatoHistérico deteniendo el tráficoLos semáforos se ponen rojísimosLas ventanas a la calle no están funcionandoNuestros cuerposTienen goteras y bailamosEn una posición etériopatriarcal es decirApenas metafísciamente presentas y las nubesMuy ocupadas llueven y cómo se vienenSobre las alcantarillas con el mohín crítico de bebé en cítricosAsesinos de turno de todo el mundoNos perdonaron la vida pero queremos másTengo tres deseos pero quiero +Todo el genioTodo el deseoQuiero ser la hormona de tu crecimientoSalvar a los compañerosVamos a la cama a recuperar sueñosEl mundo no deja de observarnosEl editor cubrirá las partes íntimasCon agujeros negrosNunca olvidesQue somos relleno del mismo dios de pelucheQue abrazan lxs niñxs cuando tienen miedoPor suerte hay todo tipo de genteAmigos imaginarios y amigos de verdadGente que cree un unx y por eso somos posiblesNunca olvidesQue hay planetas en otras vidas

Feature Date

September 8, 2023

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Featured Poet

Tilsa Otta Vildoso (Lima, 1982) is an audiovisual artist and writer. She has published four books of poetry, a book of short stories, a children’s poetry book, and a comic. Her most recent publication is the novel “Lxs niñxs de oro de la alquimia sexual” (Penguin Random House). She creates experimental and fictional films and leads poetry workshops for adults and children. For more information and ‘magia blanca’: www.tilsaotta.com

Featured Translator

Honora Spicer (Cambridge, MA, 1992) is a writer and experiential educator. Her documentary poetry and literary translations from Spanish have appeared in The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day, Tripwire, Asymptote, Latin American Literature Today, World Literature Today, Action Books, and elsewhere. www.honoraspicer.com

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And Suddenly I Was Just Dancing

Cardboard House Press

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"Tilsa Otta is one of my favorite poets, and Honora Spicer’s translations capture what is luminous about Otta’s work. This collection is nocturnal punk graffiti. She manages to make a voice that’s a little IDGAF, a little mystical into a hypnotic pulse radiating out like a bat signal in the shape of her girlfriend’s puppy. And Suddenly I Was Just Dancing is the balm for your mercury in retrograde. Bring your satellite."
―Carmen Giménez Smith

"Tilsa Otta has quickly, and with good reason, become recognized as one of the leading voices of new Latin American writing. From novels to poems, her work is always charged with a tender, cosmic, and electrically personal take on life. I would say that Tilsa is a shooting star, for the energy of her ascent in Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, and Spain, but there’s nothing fleeting about the light she emits. Tilsa’s star is here to stay, shining at last over the English-speaking world in Honora Spicer’s translation. So, look up, take it in, and don't forget to make a wish: her poems have been known to make even the wildest ones come true."
―Kit Schluter

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