Photo: John J. Campbell

Robert Peake is currently Senior Poetry Editor of Silk Road Review. His collection Human Shade was selected by Marvin Bell as part of the Lost Horse Press New Poets Series. His poems have appeared in North American Review, Poetry International, and Rattle. Robert writes about poetry on his website: www.robertpeake.com 

Peake says: "I grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border, first learning to speak Spanish in bilingual kindergarten. I discovered Neruda, Machado, and Lorca, and others in college, and was consistently disappointed even with the translations made by notable English-language poets. I strive to capture the ephemeral quality of the original in my own translations, knowing this is ultimately impossible. I gladly sacrifice literalism in pursuit of the poetic essence."

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The Water Wheel

by Antonio Machado

      Translated from Spanish by Robert Peake

The afternoon fell
sad and dusty.

The water sang
its plain couplets
into the buckets
of the slow water wheel.

The mule was dreaming --
poor, old mule! --
in step with the shadow
that sounds in the water.

The afternoon fell
sad and dusty.

I don't know which noble,
heavenly poet,
joined to the bitterness
of that endless turning

the sweet harmony
of the water that dreams,
and bandaged your eyes --
poor, old mule! ...

But I'm sure it was a noble,
heavenly poet
heart made mature
by shadow and science.