When I Go To Work
Among shivers I got up this morning
A subject is already regulated
What hateful wind of the Cyclops
What painful breath of the Centaur
Mrs. Williams
Now before we disconnect from the email
That one day elapsed without answering the electronic message
And I retreat covered by a thought
The advanced technological leap
That is a renewed confidence in the email system
Something distant in its way of having united us
An intrepid leap in its possible forms of connections with the world
But Mrs. Williams
Here wrapped in possibilities of the translation of your words
The past now as horrible accumulation of concrete acts
Facing this retreat that I’m making from the Scyllan world of that couple condemned victims of their
objective circumstances as eighteen year olds in rural cloudy days in Sherman, Texas
Guillermo Bowie is a Portland, Oregon based writer. In 2025 he is published in Maryland Literary Review, Maryland’s Academy Of The Heart And Mind, Gorko Gazette, Grey Sparrow Journal, Children, Churches, And Daddies, Book Of Matches, Blue Collar Review, Fowl Feathered Review, and has work forthcoming in Australia’s Other Terrain, The Wise Owl, Hog Creek Hardin, Arrhythmia Magazine, Shoegaze Literary, and Heavy Crown Press. He has a B.A. from Portland’s Lewis and Clark College, a M.A. from Columbia University, a second M.A. in Spanish from New York University, studied Spanish at Harvard University, and did ½ of a Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of Oregon.
Editor’s note: Guillermo Bowie composed both English and Spanish versions of this poem. The Spanish version is given below. The title is taken from a famous song by Victor Jarra.
Cuando Voy Al Trabajo
Victor Jara
Entre trémulos me levanto esta mañana
Un sujeto ya es regulado
Que odioso viento de Ciclope
Que doloroso aliento de Centauro
Señora Williams
Ahora antes de desconectarnos de la conección de mensajes
Que pasó un día sin respuesta al dictado electrónico
Y me retrato envolucrado en un pensamiento
El salto avanzado tecnológico
Eso es una nueva confianza en la conección del mensaje electrónico
Algo distante en modo de haber unídonos
Salto intrépido en las posibles formas de conectar con el mundo
Pero Señora Williams
Aquí envuelto en posibilidades de la traducción de sus mensajes
El pasado ahora siendo horroroso acumulación de concretados hechos
En frente de este retiro que me hago del mundo Escila de esa pareja condenada víctimas de sus
circunstancias objectivas de dieciocho años en rurales y nublosos días en sherman, texas
Pulsebeat Poetry Journal 