Poem by Yonit Bousany

Illustration by James Conant



Yawar Fiesta

The city is on strike and
inside thirty Peruvian women sing
Happy Birthday in Spanish.
The cake is orange; outside, the
street is on fire; the wine is Chilean.
In Ica, a bus of Chilean tourists is
hijacked, their money is spent on
ice creams and birthday cake, the cake
is white. After each stanza
the women clap their hands
three times. When the song ends,
they sing again in Spanish.
Outside, the city is on strike.
In Arequipa, four are dead
by police hands; the hands are
red. In Spanish, the song is fast,
the cake, gone.