Size / / /

<<to kill "matar en inglés">>Editor's Note/Nota del Editor: This poem was written in English by a poet who writes in both Spanish and English, and translated into Spanish by another poet who speaks both Spanish and English. Este poema fue escrito en inglés por un poeta que escribe en español e inglés, y se tradujo al español por otro poeta que habla español e inglés.

Content warning:


Advertencias de contenido:



Tequila Mockingbird

Trying to impress my brother and his Canadian friends
I told them about Tequila Don Julio and Siete Leguas.
They were talking about some Tequila Mockingbird
I thought it was one of those reserved for tourists and
ignorant throats.

I kept on telling them about my many visits to tequila factories
and battles with this precious elixir.
They all stared at me in silence, until someone began to talk again
about the Tequila Mockingbird.
It was useless trying to impress this crowd.

When the use of English was no longer needed my brother told me
about the famous tequila.

It’s not a pinche tequila but a book pendejo, he explained
they said “to kill” not tequila.

He told me it was written by some Harper Lee and how it
was a great book I should read.
Now his friends think I’m crazy, but if they named Tequila Cuervo
after a bird, the same could happen with this Mockingbird.

It will be a popular brand with the locals and tourists alike.

Matar un Ruiseñor

Quise impresionar a mi hermano y a sus amigos canadienses,
les comenté del tequila Don Julio y Siete Leguas.
Estaban hablando de un tequila Mockingbird
y pensé que era uno de esos reservados para turistas y catadores ignorantes.

Les conté acerca de mis muchas visitas a las destilerías
y mis batallas con ese precioso elixir.
Se me quedaron miraron en silencio hasta que alguien comenzó a hablar de nuevo
acerca del tequila Mockingbird.
Fue inútil el tratar de impresionarlos.

Cuando ya no fue necesario hablar en inglés
mi hermano me explicó acerca del famoso tequila

Pendejo, no es un pinche tequila, es un libro. Explicó
que estaban pronunciando «to kill "matar en inglés"» y no tequila.

Dijo que lo escribió una tal Harper Lee y que
era un gran libro que debería leer.
Ahora sus amigos piensan que estoy loco, pero si tomaron el nombre de un pájaro para nombrar el tequila Cuervo,
lo mismo puede pasar con este Mockingbird

Sería una marca popular con los locales y los turistas.



Raúl Gallardo Flores was born in 1982 in León, Guanajuato. In 2008, he won the award for best sci-fi/fantasy short screenplay at the Action on Film festival in Pasadena, California. In 2009, his screenplay "Pretending" was a finalist in the Festival of Guanajuato Expression in Short. His poems and stories have appeared in Pens on Fire, Neon Magazine, The Cynic Online Magazine, and The IMPpress, and he was a finalist in the Wergle Flomp Humor poetry competition. You can purchase his book The Absurd Rules of Life on Apple and Amazon platforms in English and Spanish.
Current Issue
20 Jan 2025

Strange Horizons
Surveillance technology looms large in our lives, sold to us as tools for safety, justice, and convenience. Yet the reality is far more sinister.
Vans and campers, sizeable mobile cabins and some that were barely more than tents. Each one a home, a storefront, and a statement of identity, from the colorful translucent windows and domes that harvested sunlight to the stickers and graffiti that attested to places travelled.
“Don’t ask me how, but I found out this big account on queer Threads is some kind of super Watcher.” Charlii spins her laptop around so the others can see. “They call them Keepers, and they watch the people that the state’s apparatus has tagged as terrorists. Not just the ones the FBI created. The big fish. And people like us, I guess.”
It's 9 a.m., she still hasn't eaten her portion of tofu eggs with seaweed, and Amaia wants the day to be over.
Nadjea always knew her last night in the Clave would get wild: they’re the only sector of the city where drink and drug and dance are unrestricted, and since one of the main Clavist tenets is the pursuit of corporeal joy in all its forms, they’ve more or less refined partying to an art.
surviving / while black / is our superpower / we lift broken down / cars / over our heads / and that’s just a tuesday
After a few deft movements, she tossed the cube back to James, perfectly solved. “We’re going to break into the Seattle Police Department’s database. And you’re going to help me do it.”
there are things that are toxic to a bo(d)y
By: Michelle Kulwicki
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
  In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Michelle Kulwicki's 'Bee Season' read by Emmie Christie Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.
Wednesday: Motheater by Linda H. Codega 
Friday: Revising Reality: How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain The World by Chris Gavaler and Nat Goldberg 
Issue 13 Jan 2025
Issue 6 Jan 2025
By: Samantha Murray
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 23 Dec 2024
Issue 16 Dec 2024
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Load More