PROSE FROM P O E TR Y MAGAZINE

On “Journey”
BY MALIA MÁRQ UE Z
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I first came across the work of Argentinean poet Alfonsina

Storni while researching the epigraph for my multigenerational
saga This Fierce Blood (Acre, 2021). Struck by the integration of
physical and metaphysical elements in Muna Lee’s 1925
translation, “Running Water,” I was compelled to dig deeper into
the large body of work Storni published during her relatively
short life. Her 1918 poem “Viaje” serendipitously references one
of the main themes of my novel—a “gato nocturno” who moves
between the physical and spirit worlds. My translation, “Journey,”
came about when I was unable to find an English version I felt
captured the original work. Born in Switzerland in 1892, Storni
emigrated with her family at the age of four to the provinces of
Argentina. From a working-class background, she was among the
first to benefit from new educational opportunities for women in
Buenos Aires. She did not live a conventional lifestyle, which her
work reflected. Writing from a complex feminist perspective at a
time when this was not common practice in Latin America, Storni
is credited along with Uruguayan poet Delmira Agustini for
influencing a new style of female eroticism in Spanish-language
poetry. In her poems, she integrates natural imagery with layers
of human experience (body, intellect, soul)—a quality I strive for
in my fiction. This sense of artistic resonance helped me approach
the translation in the spirit of collaboration. Though over a
hundred years old, Storni’s work is timeless for its multitextured,
subversive portrayal of the feminine.