José Olivarez
Translated from the English by David Ruano González

for Alison & Nate, on the occasion of their wedding,
& always for Erika
let’s get married on a Tuesday
with a six-piece from Harold’s as our witness.
let’s get married at noon & then again at three-thirty
when the school day lets out & a whole block
of dandelions flower our ceremony. let’s
get married under a full moon & then again
under a new moon, so every celestial being
can witness our vows. love, one wedding
isn’t enough for me. i want to propose
again & again. on a Wednesday because
you did the dishes. on a Thursday because
we woke up next to each other again. say yes.
say less. i’ll be on one knee asking you
to share in the delight of knowing each other.
let’s get married because Chicago. because
St. Louis is a city on a map. because your name
is my favorite word. let’s get married because
there are vows we can only make in the dark.
because we don’t need a witness to say i do.
let’s get married because it’s raining
& that’s supposed to be good luck. mi amor,
mi cielo, mi vida, let’s get married
in every language we can & can’t speak.
under every god. my god, the way you look
at me is a miracle i believe in. because
we get one life. one. say yes. then, say yes
again. let’s get married after we get married
because underneath every word i write
there is one word i carve into every desk.
one word i tag onto every building on every block
of my heart. marry me: make me (no, not complete),
but a little more alive than i’ve ever been.



Casémonos
para Alison & Nate, con motivo de su boda,
 & por siempre para Erika

casémonos un martes

con una orden de seis alitas de pollo de Harold's como testigo.
casémonos al mediodía & otra vez a las tres & media
cuando la jornada escolar termine & una manzana entera
de dientes de león florezca en nuestra ceremonia.
casémonos bajo la luna llena & otra vez
bajo la luna nueva, para que cada ser celestial
pueda presenciar nuestros votos. amor, una boda
no es suficiente para mí. quiero proponértelo
una & otra vez. en un miércoles porque
lavaste los platos. en un jueves porque
de nuevo nos despertamos al lado del otro. di que sí.
dímelo a mí. estaré en una rodilla pidiéndote
que compartas el placer de conocernos el uno al otro.
casémonos por Chicago. porque
Si. Louis es una ciudad en el mapa. porque tu nombre
es mi palabra favorita. casémonos porque
hay votos que sólo podemos hacer a oscuras.
porque no necesitamos testigos para decir acepto.
casémonos porque está lloviendo
& se supone que es de buena suerte. my love,
my heaven, my life, casémonos
en cada idioma que podemos & no podemos hablar.
bajo cada dios. por dios, la forma en que
me miras es un milagro en el que creo. porque
tenemos una vida. una. di que sí. luego, di que sí
otra vez. casémonos después de casarnos
porque debajo de cada palabra que escribo
hay una palabra que grabo en cada escritorio.
una palabra que rayo en cada edificio en cada cuadra
de mi corazón. cásate conmigo: hazme (no, no completo)
sino un poco más vivo de lo que alguna vez he estado
from the book PROMISES OF GOLD / Henry Holt & Co.
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"Promises of Gold"/"Promesas de oro" is a roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes there is grief, shame, nostalgia, melancholy, or distinct kinds of happiness. "Let's Get Married"/"Casémonos" is the top of the joy: it’s an uncontrollable voice that needs to say everything before the end of anything, there is no time, only the need of saying “please, be part of my life forever in each possible way." And I like it.

David Ruano González on “Let's Get Married”
Color photograph of a scene from Sarah Ruhl's play
Sarah Ruhl Mourns Poet Max Ritvo

"Ruhl’s play, adapted from a book she compiled of their correspondence during Ritvo’s chemotherapy, boils down to a single, yearslong conversation about poetry, love, mortality, the afterlife and soup. But this is not a traditional play. Poems and live music are interspersed between the dialogue, which comes from the letters, texts and voice mail messages they exchanged."

via THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Color image of the cover of Marianne Boruch's latest book, Bestiary Dark
What Sparks Poetry:
Marianne Boruch on "So we get there just as"


"Words came later, by accident in a silent room at a desk. But back there, one afternoon in that desolate expanse my husband and I and a stranger, the three of us came together over that creature stricken by a fellow human we desperately wanted to disown, a driver hot to desecrate the planet. I can’t tell you the rage in me as that car grew smaller and smaller then slipped into nothing’s pure distance."
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