Alberto Blanco, star poet, sent me "a little gift" by e-mail: a Spanish translation of "The Blackest Ink," one of my poems just out in the new issue of The Bitter Oleander. Thanks, Alberto! It's so thrilling see a piece reborn in another language, even if my Spanish is incredibly rusty. Here are both versions:The Blackest Ink
Hair still wrapped in a towel,
I rush to my notebook,
urgent words overflowing.
As I write, a drop of water
falls into the stream
of still-damp cursive.
The miniature puddle
swirls with orchid and blue:
a delicate oil slick.
This morning
even my blackest ink
bleeds secret rainbows.
-- Christine Boyka Kluge
La tinta más negra
Con el pelo todavía envuelto en la toalla,
corro hacia mi cuaderno de notas,
las palabras urgentes se desbordan.
Y mientras escribo, una gota de agua
se precipita en la corriente
de letras cursivas todavía frescas.
En el charco en miniatura
se forma un remolino orquídea y azul:
una delicada marea negra.
Esta mañana
hasta mi tinta más negra
sangra arcoiris secretos.
-- Christine Boyka Kluge
Translated by Alberto Blanco
The poem is reprinted here with permission from The Bitter Oleander. The translation is printed with permission from Alberto Blanco. To read a post about one of Alberto's poems from his book, A Cage of Transparent Words, click here: "Life by Halves." The photograph of the coleus leaf was taken 8/18/08 in Rhinebeck, NY.
-- Christine Boyka Kluge
Translated by Alberto Blanco
The poem is reprinted here with permission from The Bitter Oleander. The translation is printed with permission from Alberto Blanco. To read a post about one of Alberto's poems from his book, A Cage of Transparent Words, click here: "Life by Halves." The photograph of the coleus leaf was taken 8/18/08 in Rhinebeck, NY.
