Karmelo C. Iribarren

Three Poems translated from Spanish by John R. Sesgo

Plastic Bag

Look at it
right there
still
alone
on the sidewalk

terrified
of street sweeper​s

dreaming
of a bit of wind
to feel
cloudlike.

Bolsa de plástico

Mírala
ahí
en mitad de la calle
sola
quieta

temerosa
de que aparezca el barrendero

soñando
con un poco de viento
para sentirse
nube.

I’d Say

I have run from today
the whole day long
and now it’s gone.

All
that remains
are a few
rags of twilight
hanging
from an aerial
or ledge.

The better part of it,
I’d say.

Seguramente

No me he asomado al día
en todo el día,
y ya no está.

Apenas
unos harapos de crepúsculo
colgando
de antenas
y cornisas
es cuanto queda
de él.

Seguramente
lo mejor.

Beginnings and Endings

Love and nightmares

resemble each other
in how they rumple
the sheets,

at the start of love, that is.

Principios y finales

El amor y las pesadillas
se asemejan
en cómo desordenan las sábanas,

únicamente en eso,

al principio del amor.

Author: Karmelo C. Iribarren

Karmelo C. Iribarren was born in San Sebastián, Spain, in 1959. An autodidact, he began writing poetry in his late teens, but never went to university, working instead as a bartender in San Sebastián’s Old Town for more than twenty years. He began publishing his work in the 1990s, but it is only recently that his poems have gained notoriety and an ardent readership in Spain. He has published fifteen collections, most recently La última del domingo, for which he was awarded the 15th Hermanos Argensola International Poetry Prize.

Translation: John R. Sesgo

Plume: Plume Issue #165 May 2025