Poem
Misrak Terefe
WHAT DID YOU FIND SO BEAUTIFUL?
My feet had not begun to walk,my mouth to speak,
I was no earthly good at laughing,
even so…
my eyes could not see clearly what they saw,
my hands were still too soft to fight,
but even so…
I was still a crawler on the ground,
a creature making words which only I could catch,
so how could you have won
by beating me?
how was my loss your victory?
my girl your man?
was it my babyhood that made you brave?
please tell me, what was it in the end
which tempted you into my little bed?
what did you find so beautiful?
my hips, my chest, my long hair or my legs?
my scent of pee or sweat?
I could call you Killer, Rapist, you who married me
to earth…
but oh please, tell me on my life,
what did you find so beautiful?
© Translation: 2020, Yemisrach Tassew with Chris Beckett
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: Carcanet Classics, Manchester, 2020
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: Carcanet Classics, Manchester, 2020
የትኛው ነው ውበቴ
የትኛው ነው ውበቴ
ገና ገና እግሬም ለመሄድ አልጸና
አፌም ቋንቋን አላወቀ
ድዴም ከሳቅ አልታረቀ፡፡
ብቻ ገና
ዓይኖቼም አይተው አልለዩ
እጆቼም ታግለው አላስጣሉኝ፡፡
ብቻ ገና
የንብርክክ ቢሆን ጉዞዬ
ለራስ ብቻ ቢሆን ቋንቋዬ፡፡
መሸነፌ ይሆን ማሸነፉ!
መረታቴ ይሆን መረታቱ!
ሴትነቴ ይሆን ወንድነቱ!
የማረከው ያስማረከኝ!
ጨቅላነቴ ይሆን ጀግንነቱ፡፡
እስኪ ጠይቁት ያን ሠው ያዋደቀው ካልጋዬ፣
የትኛው ነው ውበቴ?
ዳሌ ይሆን ደረቴ?
ዞማዬ ይሆን ባቴ?
አልያስ የሽንቴ ጠረን
ወይ ላብና ቅርሻቴ፡፡
ለበደልህ ወሰን አፅናፍ ገዳይ መባሉ ቀርቶልህ፣
እኔን ለምድር ያጨኝ አንተን ደፋሪ ያሰኘህ፡፡
እስኪ ንገረኝ በሞቴ
የትኛው ነው ውበቴ
በመደፈር ለሞተች ለአንድ ዓመት ሕጻን
© 2020, Misrak Terefe
Poems
Poems of Misrak Terefe
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WHAT DID YOU FIND SO BEAUTIFUL?
My feet had not begun to walk,my mouth to speak,
I was no earthly good at laughing,
even so…
my eyes could not see clearly what they saw,
my hands were still too soft to fight,
but even so…
I was still a crawler on the ground,
a creature making words which only I could catch,
so how could you have won
by beating me?
how was my loss your victory?
my girl your man?
was it my babyhood that made you brave?
please tell me, what was it in the end
which tempted you into my little bed?
what did you find so beautiful?
my hips, my chest, my long hair or my legs?
my scent of pee or sweat?
I could call you Killer, Rapist, you who married me
to earth…
but oh please, tell me on my life,
what did you find so beautiful?
© 2020, Yemisrach Tassew with Chris Beckett
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: 2020, Carcanet Classics, Manchester
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: 2020, Carcanet Classics, Manchester
WHAT DID YOU FIND SO BEAUTIFUL?
My feet had not begun to walk,my mouth to speak,
I was no earthly good at laughing,
even so…
my eyes could not see clearly what they saw,
my hands were still too soft to fight,
but even so…
I was still a crawler on the ground,
a creature making words which only I could catch,
so how could you have won
by beating me?
how was my loss your victory?
my girl your man?
was it my babyhood that made you brave?
please tell me, what was it in the end
which tempted you into my little bed?
what did you find so beautiful?
my hips, my chest, my long hair or my legs?
my scent of pee or sweat?
I could call you Killer, Rapist, you who married me
to earth…
but oh please, tell me on my life,
what did you find so beautiful?
© 2020, Yemisrach Tassew with Chris Beckett
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: 2020, Carcanet Classics, Manchester
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: 2020, Carcanet Classics, Manchester
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