Bewketu Seyoum
አልወጣም ተራራ
ደመናን ልዳብስ
ቀስተ ደመናውን፣ ሽቅብ ልቀለብስ
አልዋስም እኔ
ካ’ቡነ ተክሌ ከንፍ
ከያዕቆብ መሰላል
እኔ መውጣት ሳስብ
ሰማዩ ዝቅ ይላል፡፡
I won’t climb a mountain
to touch the clouds,
I won’t lift the frown
of a rainbow into a smile,
I won’t borrow
Tekle Haymanot’s wings
or Jacob’s ladder —
when I want to climb,
the sky will come down to me!
ተበዳይ መናፍስት
ታፍነው የኖሩ
ወደ አርነት ዐውድ በድንገት ሲጠሩ
ያለጠባቂ ዘብ ተከፍቶ ሳል በሩ
የወጡ አይመስላቸው ቅጽሩን ካልሰበሩ
If tortured spirits
who have lived in chains
are suddenly called to freedom,
the door of their cell thrown open
and the guards sent home,
they will not feel truly free
unless they break through the wall.
ለሱ
ሰው ብቻ አይደለችም
ጠፈር ናት ባካሏ
መሬት ናት በነፍሷ
ዕድሜ ልኩን ቢሮጥ
አያመልጥም ከሷ፡፡
For him
she is not just a woman:
she holds the stars in her body,
the earth in her soul.
Even if he spends his life running away,
he will not get far.
እልፍ ከሲታዎች ቀጥነው የሞገጉ
“ስጋችን የት ሄደ?” ብለው ሲፈልጉ
በየሽንተረሩ በየጥጋጥጉ
አስሰው አስሰው በምድር በሰማይ
አገኙት ቦርጭ ሆኖ ባንድ ሰው ገላ ላይ፡፡
A multitude of thin people, all skin,
call out like rag and bone men,
“Where’s our fat?” They rummage
every mountain, stone and huddle-huddle,
search in the soil, search in the sky.
At last they find it, piled up on one man’s belly!
ያንዲት ቅንጣት ቅጠል መውደቅ እንደሚያጎድለኝ አውቃለሁ፣
ኮሽታ በሰማሁ ቀጥር፣
ዐይኖቼን በመስኮቴ ማዶ እወረውራለሁ፣
በጉዋሮዬ ያሉትን ዛፎች ለማየት ፡፡
እነሆ ዛፎች በነበሩበት፣
የባንዲራ ምሶሶዎች በቀሉበት፡፡
ሰዎች የተፈጥሮን ጎጆ መነጠሩ፣
ከተሞቻቸውንም ሠሩ፡፡
እኔም ፣የሽመላው ማህሌት፤ ህያውነቱን ሲያጣ እያየሁ፤
በሙት ምድር ላይ ቆምያለሁ፤
ባሸዋ ብራና ላይ የሙሾ ግጥም እጽፋለሁ፡፡
The fall of every leaf diminishes me,
so when I hear a rustle
I send my eyes out of the window
to look at the trees in the yard.
Alas! where there were woods,
I see flag-poles standing.
Men have swept nature’s nest away
to build their cities.
The melody of the nightingale
has lost its immortality
and I am sitting on a dead land,
writing an elegy in the sand.
ማጨስ ክልክል ነው!
ማፏጨት ክልክል ነው!
መሽናት ክልክል ነው!
ግድግዳው በሙሉ ተሠርቶ በክልክል
የቱ ነው ትክክል?
ትንሽ ግድግዳ እና ትንሽ ኀይል ባይለኝ
“መከልከል ክልክል ነው!” የሚል ትእዛዝ አለኝ፡፡
Smoking is prohibited!
Whistling is prohibited!
Peeing is prohibited!
The whole wall made up of prohibitions.
Which one is right??
Were I blessed with a piece of wall, a little piece of power,
my slogan would be:
Prohibitions are prohibited!
Bewketu Seyoum is a young Ethiopian poet and writer from Mankusa in Gojjam, north-west of Addis Ababa. His father is an English teacher and his mother comes from a family of Orthodox priests. He has published three collections of Amharic poetry, two novels and two CDs of short stories. In 2008, Bewketu was awarded the prize for Young Writer of the Year by the President of Ethiopia and in June 2012, he represented Ethiopia at the Poetry Parnassus festival in London.
Editor’s note: These poems are taken from ‘ኗሪ አልባ ጎጆዎች’ (Nwari Alba Gojowoch/Unmanned Houses) and ‘ስብስብ ግጥሞች’ (Sebseb Get’emoch/Collected Poems). Translations are by the author with Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje Ayele, except for ‘Prohibited!’, which was translated by Bahrnegash Bellete and appeared in the Callaloo journal, Vol 33/1, Winter 2010, published by the John Hopkins University Press. Some of the poems previously appeared in Modern Poetry in Translation, The Big Green Issue, in October 2008.
