Literature in Translation |

“Without its spirit,” “Scream in the grotto” & “The fire crackles”

Without its spirit

the haiku does not become

its own butterfly.

 

⟐

 

Scream in the grotto

my voice: the echo’s shadow

a floating rhythm.

 

⟐

 

The fire crackles

the forest whispers to it

another legend.

 

 

/     /     /     /     /

 

 

Con la cabeza

el haiku no resuelve

sumariposa.

 

⟐

 

Grito en la gruta

mi voz: sombra deleco

ritmo flotante.

 

⟐

 

Crepita el fuego

el bosque le susurra

otra leyenda.

Contributor
Jona Colson

Jona Colson is a poet, educator, and translator. His poetry collection, Said Through Glass, was awarded the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House. He is also the translator of Aguas/Waters by Miguel Avero and is the co-editor of America’s Future: poetry and prose in response to today (2025). His poems, translations, and interviews have appeared in Ploughshares, The  Southern Review, LitHub, and elsewhere.

Contributor
Leonardo de León

Leonardo de León is a professor of literature and member of the National Academy of Letters. His fiction and poetry have been widely published. He received the Gran Premio Narradores de la Banda Oriental, the Neruda Prize for Young Poets, the Writer’s House Prize, and the National Literature Prize. In 2025, he received the Justino Zavala Muniz grant to encourage artistic creation. He lives in Minas, Uruguay.

Contributor
Miguel Avero

Miguel Avero is a narrator, essayist, teacher and researcher who lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. He directs the “Puerta Chimera” writing workshop, and his work been anthologized in América Invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets (University of New Mexico Press, 2016), edited by Jesse Lee Kercheval. He has published the collection of poems Arca de Aserrín (Ediciones en blanco, 2011), and the novella, Micaela Moon (Travesía Ediciones, 2014; reissued in 2015), and another poetry collection, La Pieza (Walkie Talkie Editions, 2018). His first collection in English is Aguas/Waters, translated by Jona Colson.

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