Issue 25 | Fall 2021

Solution

Linda Morales Caballero
Translated by Marko Miletich, PhD

An appointment with this man has become a waiting game. People who have arrived here since early morning tell jokes, cuddle, tell anecdotes. Children at times play, at times scream and cry. Now I understand why the furniture, although not so old, appears used and worn-out. It’s from so many sweating bodies waiting for the man, lawyer, doctor, shaman, beautician, owner and businessman devoted to mankind. Anything to fill his pockets …

Nevertheless, I am also waiting to be seen. His arrival is announced from a block away. Everyone crowds together in the waiting room, trying to go before someone else, whether a patient, a client, or someone who is just curious. Anyhow, someone with high hopes … Then it turns out that it was a false alarm, and everyone goes back to their waiting routines.

One of those present shows a Cartier watch and, to everyone’s astonishment, says that he only paid twelve dollars for it in Chinatown. Suddenly, and without any warning, the so-called lawyer, doctor, shaman … goes by smiling and walking fast. Among the people waiting a murmur explodes into all-out shouting. As he closes his office door, people justify his behavior. They tell each other in a low voice, “He is coming from court, you see!” “Nooo, from the hospital,” someone else whispers. And all of this provides an air of mystery to the innocent comments that feed the craving for power they want him to have; so that at least someone might have control of their lives, their messes, their mishaps.

Inside his small office, he orders: “Send the fat one to immerse in water with a vibrator and put air compression stockings on the thin one,” as he smiles charismatically and businesslike. I know that he is thinking that all of this is of no use, but in any event, it pleases them and gives them hope.

I forgot what I came here for. My companion got bored and after distracting me so the wait wouldn’t seem so long, went out for a skeptical walk until I finish with my … visit, report, treatment?

About the Author

Linda Morales Caballero is a poet, fiction writer, journalist, and educator from Peru. She has published several collections of poems: Desde el umbral (From the Threshold) (Ediciones Moria, 1989), Poemas Vivos (Live Poems) (Dunken Ediciones, 2005), and El rumor de las cosas (The Murmur of Things) (New York Poetry Press, 2020). Linda has also published a collection of collection of short stories entitled El libro de los enigmas (The Book of Enigmas) (Costa Literaria Ediciones, 2017). She has been invited to participate in book fairs in New York, Buenos Aires, and Guadalajara. Linda holds a bachelor of arts in media communications and Spanish literature (Cum Laude) and a master’s degree in Spanish literature from Hunter College.

About the Translator

Marko Miletich obtained a PhD in translation studies from SUNY Binghamton University in 2012. He has a master’s degree in liberal arts with a concentration in translation from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, as well as a master’s degree in Hispanic civilization from New York University. He has worked extensively as a professional translator and interpreter and has developed curricula for several courses in translation as well as serving as a coordinator for translation and interpretation programs. His literary translations have appeared in Reunion: The Dallas Review and K1N Online Literary Translation Journal. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Translation in the Modern and Classical Languages Department at SUNY Buffalo State College.