Nombrar el Cosmos/Naming the Cosmos
by
Tina Escaja
Nombrar el Cosmos
Well-behaved women seldom make history.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Cuidado, cuidado. Esa mujer lleva el coño en la boca.
Gloria Fuertes
Las chicas buenas no hacen historia,
las malas
nombran, obturan, circunnavegan,
señalan con el dedo y se lo meten en la nariz,
a ver qué encuentran.
Luego descubren la función del radio
y las llaman putas, como a Curie.
O inventan poemas a los mendigos
y las llaman putas, como a Alfonsina.
O esculpen dioses y los fornican
y las mata el marido, como a Agustini.
U oscilan por el universo
y las difaman, como a Tereshkova.
Las chicas buenas no hacen historia,
las malas nombran.
Prefiero
como la Fuertes
no ser modosa,
obediente, pacata, Virgen,
y enunciar.
Naming the Cosmos
Well-behaved women seldom make history.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Careful, careful. That one has her cunt in her mouth.
Gloria Fuertes
Good girls don't make history.
Bad girls
give it names, plug holes, circumvent,
point some fingers, pick their noses --
just to see what they can find.
Then they discover how radium works, like Curie,
and people call them whores.
Or they dedicate poems to beggars, like Alfonsina,
and people call them whores.
Or they carve gods and screw them, like Agustini,
and get killed by their husbands.
Or they swing around the universe, like Tereshkova,
and get slandered.
Good girls don't make history.
Bad girls
give it names.
Like Fuertes
I prefer
not to be nice,
submissive, a goody-goody or a Virgin.
I prefer
to name the world.
~ ~ ~
About this Poem
Nombrar el Cosmos/Naming the Cosmos is part of the poem-project “13 lunas 13 / 13 moons 13.” In 2022, this poetry collection was published by Nueva York Poetry Press in a bilingual edition with English translations by Kristin Dykstra. It received the 2023 Juan Felipe Herrera Award from the International Latino Book Awards.
This is a fundamentally political, feminist, and scientific poetry collection exploring both cosmic elements (quantum physics, string theory) and visceral, bodily ones (brain, vagina, menstruation). Sexuality, menstruation, and string theory are used to reinterpret and challenge traditional depictions of women and their stereotyped association with the moon. In these poems, the moon bleeds, dismantles conventional parameters through precise linguistic and poetic interventions, which the poet refers to as the poem’s “cerebral cortex” (Escaja 2022, 153). The ultimate aim of this collection is to dismantle the patriarchal foundations of sociopolitical, historical, and religious structures that have long discriminated against women.
The poetry collection goes beyond the page and is part of a larger project that includes art installations, essays, videos, and interactive testimonials available online.
Resources
Escaja, Tina. 2012. Proyecto 13 lunas 13 / 13 Moons 13 Project. https://proyecto.w3.uvm.edu/LUNAS/.
Escaja, Tina. 2013. 13 lunas 13. Video Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@13Lunas13.
Escaja, Tina. 2018. "13 Lunas 13/13 Moons 13: A Video-Project About Sexuality and Menstruation," Journal of International Women's Studies: Vol. 19 No. 3. https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol19/iss3/16.
Escaja, Tina. 2022. 13 lunas 13 / 13 moons 13. Translations by Kristin Dykstra. Nueva York Poetry Press.