Gebre Kristos Desta
Gebre Kristos Desta
Solace
Work in progress
growing continually
whiling away the days.
A small room,
shelter from the world’s ills.
A small chair
that hugs
that braces.
Old clothes
worn out comfortably
thread-bare.
Old shoes
that have served
that have worked.
A decanter, a plate, water
water to wash in.
A towel, rough.
A stove, charcoal fire,
fire, warmth.
A crumb of bread,
milk in a bottle
fruit on a plate.
A cigarette,
half gone,
smoking.
A letter,
a note-book of memories,
a newspaper.
Kinsmen in a frame,
photo of a friend.
A bedside lamp,
on the wall shadows
a picture.
Books,
books,
books
(to lean on, to run to, to hide in)
that are company,
that teach,
that bait a dialogue.
A bed, a mattress, a pillow
a bed to sink into
repose.
Sleep,
sleep,
sleep.
Also others,
also many
many others.
Provide solace.
~ Gebre Kristos Desta, trans. from Amharic by Solomon Deressa
Gebre Kristos Desta was an artist, poet and teacher. Born in Harrar, he later established himself as an independent artist in Addis Ababa, and his work was exhibited both in Ethiopia and abroad.
Solomon Deressa, born in western Ethiopia, is a poet, screenwriter, and essayist. His first book of poems, ‘L’jnnet’ [Youth], has been described as a turning point in modern Ethiopian poetry.
Editor’s note: This translation first appeared in the Ethiopia Observer 1966 Vol 11/no 3: ‘Gebre Kristos Desta: Sombre Colours and Incantatory Words’.
