From redondel (little round thing)
By Romina Freschi
Translated by Jeannine Marie Pitas
NYAM-NYAM IS A “ROCK BAND.”
THEY USE THAT NAME BECAUSE THEY’RE ALWAYS CHEWING GUM.
THEY CHEW GUM BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE MONEY TO EAT.
THEY DON’T HAVE MONEY TO EAT BECAUSE PEOPLE DON’T LIKE THEM.
PEOPLE DON’T LIKE THEM BECAUSE THEY CHEW GUM.
THEY SAY CHEWING GUM IS SUPERFICIAL AND CHILDISH.
BUT THE BAND NYAM-NYAM DOESN’T BREAK UP.
THEY SAY THEY’RE MAKING ART, AND THEY KEEP ON MAKING BUBBLES
SHAPED LIKE FAMOUS SCULPTURES THAT EXPLODE WITH TUTTI-FRUTTI
EXPLOSIONS THAT FORM THE BASE RHYTHM OF
NYAM-NYAM’S SONGS.
EVEN SO, PEOPLE AREN’T INTO THEM.
IT’S BECAUSE THEY CHEW WITH THEIR MOUTHS OPEN.
ÑAM-ÑAM’S FIRST SHOW WAS A MISERABLE FAILURE. THE SMELLY WARTGUTS CAME OUT IN MASSE, FLEEING FROM A FULL LEGION OF VIDEOGAME DWARVES (AND AS EVERYONE KNOWS, DWARVES HAVE FOUR LIVES), AS IF THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO TO HIDE THE STENCH THEY GIVE OFF WHEN THEY’RE SCARED, THE GUTS CRASHED THE CONCERT AND STANK UP ALL THE TUTTI-FRUTTI AROMA OF THE GUM THAT ÑAM-ÑAM HAD GIVEN OUT. PEOPLE STARTED TO THROW UP WHILE THE WARTGUTS CAMOUFLAGED THEMSELVES IN THE VOMIT AND THEN THE DWARVES ENTERED AND CLIMBED ONTO THE STAGE, JUMPING AND BOPPING ALL OVER THE PLACE LIKE BEASTIE BOYS, AND THEY SANG AN EVEN MORE CYBERNETIC VERSION OF “SABOTAGE.” THEN BLANCHE AND LULI SHOWED UP WITH SILVER SHOES AND FEATHER BOAS. THEY SANG ALL NIGHT AND MADE ÑAM-ÑAM STAY ALL NIGHT TO SEE THE SHOW THROUGH TO THE END, AND THEN THEY CLEANED UP ALL THE STINKY VOMIT TO THE LASER RHYTHM OF THEIR GUNSHOTS. BLANCHE AND LULI HAD A BLAST AND PROMISED TO VISIT ÑAM-ÑAM AGAIN.
ÑAM-ÑAM ES UN GRUPEJO DE ROCK.
SE LLAMAN ASÍ PORQUE SIEMPRE ESTÁN MASCANDO CHICLES.
MASCAN CHICLES PORQUE NO TIENEN PLATA PARA COMER.
NO TIENEN PLATA PARA COMER PORQUE LA GENTE NO LOS QUIERE.
LA GENTE NO LOS QUIERE PORQUE MASCAN CHICLES.
DICEN QUE MASCAR CHICLES ES SUPERFICIAL E INFANTIL.
PERO ÑAM-ÑAM NO SE SEPARA.
DICEN QUE HACEN ARTE. Y CONTINÚAN HACIENDO GLOBOS
CON FORMAS DE ESCULTURAS FAMOSAS, QUE EXPLOTAN CON EXPLOSIONES
TUTTI-FRUTTI QUE SON LA BASE RÍTMICA DE
LAS CANCIONES DE ÑAM-ÑAM.
PERO IGUAL LA GENTE NO SE FIJA EN ELLOS.
ES QUE MASTICAN CON LA BOCA ABIERTA.
EL PRIMER RECITAL DE ÑAM-ÑAM FUE UN ABOMINABLE FRACASO. LOS BERRUGOS MALOLIENTES VENÍAN MASIVAMENTE ESCAPANDO DE UNA LEGIÓN COMPLETA DE ENANOS DE VIDEOGAMES. ( Y COMO TODOS SABEMOS LOS ENANOS TIENEN CUATRO VIDAS). COMO NO SABÍAN QUÉ HACER PARA DISIMULAR EL HEDOR QUE PRODUCEN CUANDO SE ASUSTAN, LOS BERRUGOS SE METIERON EN EL CONCIERTO Y APESTARON TODO EL TUTTI-FRUTTI DE LOS CHICLES QUE HABÍA REPARTIDO ÑAM-ÑAM. LA GENTE EMPEZÓ A VOMITAR, MIENTRAS LOS BERRUGOS SE CAMUFLABAN EN EL VÓMITO. Y ENTONCES ENTRARON LOS ENANOS Y SE SUBIERON AL ESCENARIO. SALTABAN Y BIPEABAN POR TODOS LADOS COMO BEASTIES, Y CANTABAN UNA VERSIÓN AÚN MÁS CIBERNÉTICA DE SABOTAGE. ENTONCES LLEGARON BLANCHE Y LULI, CON ZAPATOS PLATEADOS Y BOAS DE PLUMAS. CANTARON TODA LA NOCHE, Y OBLIGARON A ÑAM-ÑAM A QUE SE QUEDARAN A VER EL SHOW HASTA EL FINAL Y QUE DESPUÉS LIMPIARAN LOS VÓMITOS MALOLIENTES AL RITMO LÁSER DE SUS DISPAROS. BLANCHE Y LULI SE DIVIRTIERON MUCHO. PROMETIERON VISITAR DE NUEVO A ÑAM-ÑAM.
poesía en acción | Micro-Interview Series: Jeannine Marie Pitas
Romina Freschi was born in 1974 in Buenos Aires, where she received her B.A. in Literature from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Her publications include redondel (Siesta, 1998), Estremezcales (tsé tsé, 2000), Petróleo (Eloísa Latinoamericana, 2002), El-Pe-Yo (Paradiso, 2003), as well as the chapbooks Soleros (BAND, 1998), Incrustraciones en confite (Self-published, 1999), Villa Ventana (Arte Plegable, 2003), 3/3/3 (Proveedora de Droga, 2005), Solaris (pájarosló editora, 2007), Variaciones de Órbita (pájarosló, 2010), Quien siem-pre gana es Poseidón (Tocadesata, 2011), Ejercicio Cósmico (Los poetas del 5 ed. Chile, 2011) and Eco del parque (Juana Ramirez, 2016). She has received a Fundación Antorchas grant, and in 2004 and 2006 she received grants from the Argentine government for her literary magazine Plebella. Her collaborative projects include the group Zapa-tos Rojos, the multispace Cabaret Voltaire, and the project Living de la Poesía. She is editor of the collection Arte Plegable and the independent publishing house pájarosló editora.
Jeannine Marie Pitas’s most recent translations are Marosa di Giorgio’s Carnation and Tenebrae Candle (Cardboard House Press 2020) and Selva Casal’s We Do Not Live In Vain (Veliz Books 2020). Echo of the Park by Romina Freschi was published by Eulalia Books in 2019. She is a translation co-editor for Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry and an editor at the Song Bridge Project, a translation press based in Iowa City. She lives in Iowa, teaches at the University of Dubuque, and serves as a volunteer Spanish-English interpreter for Spanish-speaking newcomers to her local community.
Poesía en acción is an Action Books blog feature for Latin American and Spanish poetry in translation and the translator micro-interview series. It was created by Katherine M. Hedeen and is currently curated and edited by Olivia Lott with web editing by Paul Cunningham.