Zewdu Milikit
አየተመሰለ በእንስላት ዘመኑá£
ብዙ ዓመት ታáˆáŽ áŠá‹ የደረስን ካáˆáŠ‘á¡á¡
አለáˆá‰ ትና áˆáˆµáˆˆá‰µ እንስሳቱá£
ቀስ አያáˆáŠ• ደረስን ከáˆáˆµáˆˆ áŠáሳቱá¡á¡
ሆኖ የሸረሪት áˆáˆµáˆˆá‰µ ዘመኑá£
ሰዎቹ በሙሉ በማድራት ተካኑá¡á¡
አድáˆá‰°á‹ አድáˆá‰°á‹ አንዴ እንደሞከሩá£
እንደሸረሪቱ ሸረሠብለዠቀሩá¡á¡
Animals symbolised years
since the olden days,
but animals are old hat now,
insects are the way to go
in the year of the spider —
everyone’s weaving a ladder
of cobwebs, and trying
to fly when they’re falling.
áˆáˆƒá‰¥ ጥጋባቸá‹á£
ደስታ ሃዘናቸá‹á£
áቅሠጥላቻቸá‹á£
áˆáˆ‰áˆ ጥቂት ሆኖ በጥቂት á‹«áˆá‰…ናá£
ጥቂት ስራቸዠáŒáŠ• ቢሰáˆáˆ አያáˆá‰…ሠበዘመናት á‰áŠ“á¡á¡
Who in their hunger find a sort of bread,
joy even in what they dread,
a maybe in never.
Who, being few, do not envy others
and whose works, like brothers
you can count on one hand, count forever.
ብስáˆáŠ“ ጥሬ ባንድ እየተቆሉá£
áˆáˆ‰áˆ áŠáˆµáˆ ያሉ የጨሱ መሰሉá£
ሰካስ እንዲያ አá‹á‹°áˆˆáˆ ወዲህ áŠá‹ áˆáˆµáŒ¢áˆ©á£
ጥሬዠእስኪበስሠብስሉ áŠá‹ ማረሩ::
á‹°áŒáˆž እንዲሀሠአለ ብስáˆáˆ ጥሬ መáˆáˆ°áˆá£
አብሮ እየተቆሉ
እስኪያሩ መማሰሠ… መማሰሠ… መማሰሠ…
መማሰሠሲበዛ ጥሬዠበሰለናá£
ብስሉ አራራ ሆኖ áˆáŒ£á‹µ ላዠቀረና::
Something ripe and something raw,
when cooked together, go to war.
But that’s not all, there’s more:
as raw gets ripe, the ripe burns down,
so ripe might just as well be raw!
Mix your feelings up together
and however fast you stir and stir,
the fresh ones turn out nice and brown,
but older passions end up sticking to the pan.
ጺሙን አጎáሮá£
á€áŒ‰áˆ©áŠ• አንጨáሮá£
ዓለሠበቃአያለá£
መናአየመሰለá£
ሱሪá‹áŠ• አጥብቆ
“በሳሪያ†ኮት ታንቆá£
ማá‹áˆ«á‰µ መáŠáŒ‹áŒˆáˆá£
ብዙ ብዙ áŠáŒˆáˆá£
በጥብቅ መወያየትá£
መá‹áŒ¨á‰µ መጋጨትá£
በሃሳብ መናጨትá£
እንዲህ áŠá‰ ሠድሮá£
ዛረ ተቀየሮá£
á€áŒ‰áˆ ባáŒáˆ ባáŒáˆá£
ከáˆáŠ¨áˆ™ የሚያáˆáˆá£
መáˆáŠ¨áŠ• የሚያላáˆáˆá¡á¡
የላዠáˆá‰¥áˆµ መብዛá£
“ሸሚዙ ቲ ሸáˆá‰±á£
“ኮቱና ጃኬቱ::â€
ሱሪዠያáˆáŒ በቀ ሰአየሚያá‹áŠ“ናá£
ሽáኖ የሚá‹á‹ የራሰን ገመና::
አዠሱሪዠስá‹á‰±!
እቤት ደስ ማለቱá£
ጥሩ ቀሚስ መስáˆáˆ áˆá‰µáˆˆá‰¥áˆµá‹áŠ• እቱ::
á‹°áŒáˆžáŠ® á€áŒ¥ áŠá‹á£
á€á‰£á‹ áˆá‹© áŠá‹::
ማá‹áˆ«á‰µ መáŠáŒ‹áŒˆáˆá£
ብዙ ብዙ áŠáŒˆáˆá£
በጥብቅ መወያየትá£
በሃሳብ መጋጨትá¡
á‹«á‹« ዛሬ ቀáˆá‰·áˆá£
የá‹áˆá‰³ á‹áˆ¸áŠ• “ከáˆáˆáˆâ€ ቤት ገብቷáˆ::
He used to let his beard
grow long
and never comb his hair.
“Little’s all I needâ€, he’d say,
his pants as thin as hermits
under an itchy coat.
He loved a fierce discussion
for the sake of it,
the rip of one opinion
being torn
from all the talk around.
But that’s long gone:
today his hair
is short and smartly
trimmed, his handsome
new persona boasts
a wardrobe of fine clothes:
shirt and t-shirt combos!
jackets and their matching ties!
tailored trousers
loose enough to bag
a thousand private thoughts —
such quiet quality,
whispery as a woman’s dress,
whispery as him.
The temper of the times
has changed,
no talk of so, so many things,
no fierce discussion,
clashing views —
today the House of Learning
wears a fashionable hush.
እንጨት áŠá‹°á‹°áŠ“ ብረትን አጋላá£
ብረትሠጋለና አá‹áˆ†áŠ‘á‹áˆ ሆáŠá¡á¡
ብረት ተቀጥቅጦ áˆáˆ³áˆ ሊወጣá‹á£
የእንጨትን ዘሠáˆáˆ‰ ቆራáˆáŒ¦ ጣለá‹á£
áˆáˆ³áˆ ቂሠሊወጣ ሲቆáˆáŒ¥ እንጨትንá£
እንጨት አጋዥ ሆአቀá‹áˆ® ስሙንá£
ራሱን አታሎ ራሱን ሸንáŒáˆŽá£
ራሱን ቆረጠእጀታ áŠáŠ ብሎá¡á¡
Wood burned and heated Metal.
Metal melted into Axe
and cut down a whole family of Trees.
But when the mother of all Trees
cried out for justice,
Axe felled another forest,
and Wood fell for his own tricks,
by changing his name to Handle.
Zewdu Milikit was born in Bahir Dar on Lake Tana in 1958. He studied language teaching at AAU and is currently a lecturer at Gondar College of Teachers’ Education.
Alemu Tebeje Ayele is an Ethiopian journalist, social worker, poet and web-campaigner based in London. His poems have been published in the anthologies ‘Forever Spoken’ and ‘No Serenity Here’, featuring 26 poets from 12 African countries.
Chris Beckett grew up in Ethiopia in the 1960s and his acclaimed collection of praise shouts and boasts, ‘Ethiopia Boy’, was published by Carcanet in 2013. The book of his collaborative project with artist Isao Miura, ‘Sketches from the Poem Road’, has been shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award 2015.
