Word Enrique Servín Herrera (bio) Translated from Spanish by Katherine Silver and Robin Myers Keywords Enrique, Servín, Herrera, Katherine, Silver, Robin, Myers, translated poetry, Mexican poets, sea, personification, endurance, poems about writing poetry There she is, all alone, a beautiful wordwith her long hair down, facing the sea proud to be, to exist on the beach, Naked,all voice, all pure presence, like the sea, with her vocalic breasts and her adjectival skin,transparent word, daughter of memory at the mercy of the sand, of the waves and air,of everything the sea contains, includes: how can she hold her own against the water? against the sun that sets her on fire?against the murmuring wind that silences her? Could she dream at least one word—like sea,for example—and experience all the water that the tide invents, that rises in the wavesand blossoms in the sand, in the foam, and in the salt? Poor word, alone, confronting the sea:our only eyes, our only voice, our only way of being, facing the sea. [End Page 245] Enrique Servín Herrera Poet, translator, polyglot, and scholar enrique servín herrera (1958–2019) was one of the greatest linguists and defenders of indigenous culture in Mexico. As director of the Department of Ethnic Cultures and Diversity for the state of Chihuahua, he worked to protect and support the Quiché Maya and more than eleven indigenous languages of his region. His poems are lyrical, sensitive ruminations on the natural world, attuned to human injustice; they focus on the tragedies and absurdities of our history as a species yet still find ways to praise the splendor—or at least flashes of splendor—of our life on Earth. Katherine Silver katherine silver's most recent and forthcoming translations include works by Verónica Zondek, María Sonia Cristoff, César Aira, Juan Carlos Onetti, and Julio Ramón Ribeyro (Premio Valle Ínclan 2020). She is the former director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre (BILTC) and the author of Echo Under Story (What Books Press 2019). She does volunteer legal interpreting for asylum seekers. Robin Myers robin myers is a Mexico City–based poet and translator. Recent translations include books by Cristina Rivera Garza, Mónica Ramón Ríos, and Gloria Susana Esquivel; her translations of works by Leonardo Teja, Keila Vall de la Ville, Adalber Salas Hernández, and Daniel Lipara will be published in 2021. She writes a monthly column on translation for Palette Poetry. Copyright © 2021 The Massachusetts Review, Inc.