This Day Our Daily Dog - Giselle Caputo

It’s as if the plastic bags
had become the sofa’s latest outfit
because why remember the dead
and gather dust in the house

The cobwebs emigrate
and the ants carry on
taking the last crumb from
a home, sweet home

Mamá cooks, sweeps, and eyes me
with that constant complaint,
and when she wanders round the garden
it’s to search for empty nests

When the gate clicks again,
she smiles, the dog comes in and asks
if today we have a little left
of our absurd daily bread

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Giselle Caputo (born 1986) Paraguay (born in Argentina)
Translated by David Shook and The Poetry Translation Workshop
Source: Poetry Translation Centre