We met Martha Curcio initially when we hosted our first Invasive Thoughts party at Ruta Maya coffee shop in downtown San Antonio. So it seemed perfect to include this poem in our anniversary issue, as Martha was inadvertently a part of our first big celebration. And since then, I have been jazzed to hear Martha read her poetry at other venues in dear San Anto. Martha writes and reads her poems in Spanish, and though I do not speak Spanish (and understand only a few words and phrases), the strength and lyricism of her voice convey the emotion of her poetry so well that I understand it, if only in a different way. It is like music of other languages, though. We may not understand the words, but we understand the song.
Martha was at the last poetry reading I attended, at Café Latino on N. St. Mary’s, hosted by Jim Stewart (see Stewart’s poem Vicious Circle in our Anniversary Issue). That night there was a gentleman who came up to the mic with her to translate line-for-line, as she read. It was quite a wonderful experience. And so, I asked Martha if she would be willing to translate a very short piece I had written and had envisioned being spoken in both English and Spanish. In my inner ear, in my inner voice, I hear this piece in a sort of breathy, heart-whisper. I could not translate the piece myself, and while I had typed the lines into a free online translation site, I have often heard how translations from such sources might provide a literal word-for-word translation, but often miss the more subtle metaphoric meanings.
I am absolutely delighted that Martha translated this piece, and I am excited to present it to our readers for this very special anniversary edition.