You might as well sob filing a razor blade

One of the books soaked in our minor disaster a few days ago was a collection of poems by Juan Ramon Jimenez and Federico Garcia Lorca, selected and translated by Robert Bly. Now sitting on my desk, it seems to be recovering well enough, and is now dry enough to leaf through, as long as you're careful.

A happy bit of serendipity. Lots of the works now drying out are bits that have been hidden from daylight too long...

Más vale sollozar afilando la navaja
o asesinar a los perros en las alucinantes cacerías,
que resister en la madrugada
los interminables trenes de leche,
los interminables trenes de sangre,
y los trenes de rosas maniatadas
por los comerciants de perfumes.
-- Lorca

(tr. You may as well sob filing a razor blade
or assassinate dogs in the hallucinated foxhunts,
as try to stop in the dawnlight
the endless trains carrying milk,
the endless trains carrying blood,
and the trains carrying roses in chains
for those in the field of perfume. )