Dark Light / Oscura luz

my skin is dark
as the night
in this country
of noontime

but my soul
is even darker
from all the light
I carry inside

/

teñida de noche
tengo la piel
en este país
de mediodía

pero más oscura
tengo el alma
de tanta luz
que llevo adentro

“Dark Light / Oscura luz” by Francisco X. Alarcón from From the Other Side of Night / Del otro lado de la noche: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 2002 by Francisco X. Alarcón. Reprinted with the permission of The University of Arizona Press.