Coral Bracho, an esteemed poet and translator from Mexico City, has received the prestigious Xavier Villaurrutia Award for Ese espacio, ese jardín (2003) and has authored a total of seven acclaimed titles. Forrest Gander, who has translated her latest work, It Must Be a Misunderstanding, previously translated her selected poems Firefly Under the Tongue (2008) into English.
It Must Be a Misunderstanding is a collection of poems that delve into Bracho’s mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The opening poem immediately captivates with its invocation: “By means of what song, what bird, / do you shoot through me like a flame, a thin / fiber?” Despite the weighty subject matter, the poems maintain a tone of wonder, and Forrest Gander’s translations eloquently convey the musicality of the verses.
The book is divided into nine sections, with the first eight featuring long, segmented, surrealist poems inspired by observed hallucinations and misinterpretations. The accompanying poems in each section bear titles like “Observations,” “Intuitions,” “Impressions,” and “Diary,” shedding light on the turmoil of memory loss. These poems reflect the shifting emotions of the mother, from restless paranoia to bewildered anger to ecstatic joy.
Throughout the book, we witness the mother’s fleeting moments of joy, particularly when music is involved, before she is inevitably pulled back into the dark realm of her illness. The structure of the book mirrors the relentless progression of Alzheimer’s, emphasizing the tragedy of the disease through the arrangement of the poems.
The narrative is enriched by the voices of doctors and caregivers surrounding the mother and daughter, creating a chorus that adds depth to the story. Gander highlights the nuances of translating Spanish into English, especially in conveying the ambiguities arising from pronouns. The fluidity of voices in the poems mirrors the subject matter, portraying the confusion and uncertainty experienced by those affected by Alzheimer’s.
Bracho artfully captures the disorientation of Alzheimer’s through the decontextualization of nouns and the juxtaposition of unexpected imagery. Her poems vividly depict the fragmentation of thought and memory that defines the disease. The work evokes empathy for those grappling with the complexities of dementia.
The book explores the challenge of comprehending the obscured consciousness of the patient through a blend of intuition and reason. Bracho delves into the essence of storytelling and gestures as a means of grasping one’s identity in the face of cognitive decline. The poetry in “It Must Be a Misunderstanding” showcases both profound introspection and exquisite craftsmanship.
This collection can be savored for its philosophical rumination on consciousness, its exploration of the boundless potential of language, or as a poignant homage to a departed loved one. It Must Be a Misunderstanding resonates with compassion, curiosity, and warmth, offering readers a poignant and enriching literary experience.
