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Españolback JAVIER ETCHEVARREN
translation from the Spanish by Jesse Lee Kercheval
The Library
While my mother cleaned
that enormous library,
I was able to read encyclopedias and fantasies
from one section to another.
So many letters and colors.
The world was wide and true.
So vast and deep, high and beautiful, all within the reach
of my hands.
The armchair was roomy enough to hold all the answers.
Light entered the room,
but not people.
People were piled on the beaches
burning their lips.
Me, I could not get enough.
I was excited by the special editions, the hard covers, the
foreign languages.
The smell of clean and old:
the virtue of my mother and the books.
Roman legions,
adventures of bees,
construction of the pyramids,
the creation of the universe,
enigmatic UFOs.
Science answered
but the rest was mystery.
One grew to overcome the mystery. 
Contributor’s notes: Jesse Lee Kercheval
Contributor’s notes: Javier Etchevarren
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The Library