To read the original Spanish ______ For poetry by J.C. Todd ______ For a review by J.C. Todd. ______ J.C. Todd's work can be found online at: www.cortlandreview.com www.grdodge.org www.artistsandcommunities.org "Why I Teach Poetry," an on-line supplement to the PBS special Fooling with Words with Bill Moyers, Fall, 1999 is located at www.pwnet.org ______ J.C. Todd is a Contributing Editor of The Drunken Boat ______ Email J.C.Todd

Ivón Gordon Vailakis Laughter dropped out Laughter dropped out of you for living in the wrong kind of world now you live in favor of fading away you set up at each corner, so rosy and give out pamphlets to people who have forgotten how to read and you give yourself away in all forms of nakedness and plenty shouting at those who don’t listen because the happy heart listens only to itself and you give them a thank-you for turning an ordinary day into ashes and you slip away. Translated by J. C. Todd and the author. She carries in her womb She carries in her womb an odor of mire she doesn’t feel the body’s strong, uneven quiver a tug comes down from never pulls her to her knees, the ground like a river flowing between her legs a contraction that binds uterus to spine lets loose a wing, broken without a yelp without breath spattering her shoes a thread of blood that runs off into thick mud. Translated from the Spanish by J. C. Todd and the author. Woman in the corner Woman in the corner, rundown filling a space already taken, you unsexed by each mouthful, each roll on the pillows I sensed you opening yourself to the world murmuring you, subrosa, shrugging off its uproar a wound, a woman split open you roused yourself, wet your fingers thrust out, a grievance leaving me open to a presence that we are not, neither you, nor I. Translated by J. C. Todd.