Ghirmai Negash

Translated by Ghirmai Negash

1. Apparitions / ጐፍታ ምስለይ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   Often

   When I look at myself in the mirror

   I see versions of myself, fleeting apparitions 

    

   Sometimes

   I see a spiderweb suspended in a tree

   Quivering alone in the wind, forsaken by the weaver

    

   Other times

   I see a snail shell, abandoned on the beach

   Wallowing in grief, consumed by loneliness

    

   Then, many, many nights,

   I hide myself in a corner, like a spiderweb,

   Sheltering itself from being ripped by the rain

    

   And, many, many days,

   Like a snail shell, I fight the fear

   Of being taken by the waves.

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ወትሩ                                       

   ነብሰይ እንክርእያ ኣብ መስቲያት         

   ካልእ ምስሊ ኣሎ ዝብል ህርድግ     

    

   ሓንሳብ ሓንሳብ                          

   ኣብ ገረብ ዝተንጠልጠለ ዓለባ ሳሬት      

   ኣላማዩ ዝጠንጠኖ ብንፋስ ዝካላበት    

    

   ሓንሳብ ሓንሳብ                          

   ኣብ ደንደስ ባሕሪ ዝተገድፈ ሰፈር ኣሮነ  

   ንበይኑ ዝቓዝን ብጽምዋ ዝተዋሕጠ  

    

   ሽዑ ወትሩ     

   ለይቲ ለይቲ ከም ዓለባ ሳሬት               

   እሓድር ዝናም ከይቐደኒ ክሽጐጥ     

    

   ሽዑ ወትሩ                             

   ቀትሪ ቀትሪ ከም ሰፈር ኣሮነ         

   እውዕል ማዕበል ከይዓዝረኒ ክሕቆነ

2. My Secret Tree / ዕበየለይ ዝብሎ ገረብ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   Commentators incessantly dissect the ways of tyrants, 

   Analyzing the peoples’ deep-seated pains,

   Elaborating grim stories narrated in meticulous detail. 

    

   I could add my own saga of a half-century

   Of weariness of deafening announcements, mandates, commands, 

   Perpetually broadcasted by the solitary paper, by the lone radio station. 

    

   Suppose I am fed up, longing to end it all

   A rope is easy to secure

   The problem is the authorities own the trees!

    

   My soul is poised, rope in hand

   I wait for my secret tree to grow,

   Tall and strong from sun and water.

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ይዝረብን ይትንተን እውን’ዩ ዓይነት መለኽቲ  

   ብስነ-ልቦናዊ ቅማረ‘ውን ብቓንዛ ‘ቶም ነበርቲ 

   ይስፈርን ይንገርን ዛንታ እናተጠቐሰ በብሓንቲ  

    

   ምወሰኽኩ ኣነ ከም ንፍርቂ ዘመን ዝነበርኩ ኣብ ውሽጡ 

   እቶም መንጾውረር በተን እንኮ ራዲዮን ጋዜጣን ዝገዓሩ  

   ኣዋጃት፡ ትእዛዛትን መምሪሒታትን ዝኣመሰሉ ዘየባርዩ 

    

   ፊጊዕ ኢሉኒ ንበል‘ስከ ነበሰይ ከቃብጻ ደልየ ንሓዋሩ 

   ብሰበሰብ ገመድ መንጠልጠሊ ‘ውን ረኺበ ብቐሊሉ 

   ሕጂ’ቲ ጸገም ገረብ ብመንግስቲ’ዩ ዝውነን ብምሉኡ 

    

   ክትጠፍእ ዝደለየት ሩሕን መጥፊኢኣ ገመድን ኣብ ኢድ 

   እጽበ ኣለኹ እንተኾነ እቲ ሓቢአ ዘዕብዮ ዘለኹ ገረብ 

   ጸጊቡ ማይን ጸሓይን ክሳብ ዝኾነለይ ድልድሉን ነዊሕን

3. Ironing Shorts / ምስትራር ስረ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   I have a weakness for shorts

   But this poem is about mother

    

   When my brother took up arms for freedom

   We never heard from him again

   No grave to lay flowers on

   No portrait to illuminate by candle 

   Mother invented her own ritual of remembrance

   Every year she ironed my brother’s trousers  

   Moistening them and breathing in his lingering essence. 

    

   When father died,

   She got two pairs of trousers to iron.

   When I went into exile,

   She got three.

   Or, more accurately, two and a half. 

    

   Forgive me, mother, for leaving half the smell behind

   I have a weakness for shorts.

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ኣነ ፈታው ሓጺር ስረ`የ

   እዚ ግጥሚ ግን ብዛዕባ ኣደይ’ዩ

    

   ሓወይ ንነጻነት ብረት ክሕዝ ምስ ወፈረ 

   ብኡ ኣቢሉ ደሃይ ምሰጥፈአ 

   ዕንባባ ከይተቐምጥ የለን መቓብሩ 

   ሽምዓ ከይትውልዕ ዝተረፈ የለን ስእሉ       

   ኣደይ ግና ሚሂዛ ብልሓት   

   ዓመት ዓመት ስረ ሓወይ ምስትራር   

   ማይ ‘ናረብረበት ነቲ ዝተረፈ ጠረኑ ምምእራር 

   ጸኒሑ ኣቦይ’ውን ዓሪፉ 

   ክልተ ስረ ገይራቶም ዓመት መጸ ዝስታረሩ  

   ጸኒሑ ኣነ’ውን ካብ ገዛይ ነፊጸ ንስደት ኣምሪሐ 

   ርግጽ ተስታርሮም ኮይኖሙላ ሰለስተ ስረ   

   ግና ክልተን ፈረቃን’ዩ ብልክዕ ምስ ዝቕመረ  

    

   ይቕረታ እነዋ’የ ፍርቂ ሽታይ’የ ገዲፈ

   ዓጊበ’የ ኣነ ብሙዃነይ ፈታው ሓጺር ስረ

4. In Front of the Camera / ቕድሚ ካሜራ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   Suppose I’m standing before the camera

   For my portrait to be taken

    

   Should I stand up right,  

   The tempest may take hold and make me sway

    

   Should I sit,

   My buttocks may endure the scorch of a blaze beneath me 

    

   Should I stand on my head,

   The flood up to my heels may sweep me away

    

   Thus, I lie down,

   Letting wind, water, and fire converge, 

   In a unison of clashing forces 

    

   To imbue this unreadable portrait of chaos

   with meaning. 

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ኮይነ’ለኹ ንበል ኣብ ቕድሚ ካሜራ

   ስእሊ ንኽሰኣል --

    

   ደው ኢለ ኸይሰኣል፡

   ህቦብላ’ሎ ንሽክናይ ዘነቓንቖ፣

    

   ኾፍ ኢለ ኸይሰኣል፡

   እቶን’ሎ ንጭንጭራይ ዘንጣዕጥዖ፣

    

   ተገልቢጠ ኸይሰኣል፡

   ኣይሂ ኣሎ ካብ ሾኾናይ ዝከዖ።

    

   ንጋድም ኾይነ’ለኹ፡

   ንፋስ፡ ማይ፡ ሓዊ ሰሪዐ ብማዕረ

    

   እቲ ዝርአ ክርፍስ

   እቲ ጭሕግርጋር ስእሊ ንሱ ኣነ’የ።

5. Dancing in the Desert / ትልሂት ሰሃራ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   The sand waves of the Sahara surge

   I embrace a pillar of the khamsin wind

   Celebrating my final moment with a swirling tango.

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ማዕበል ሑጻ ስሃራ ንዮ ኖጆ ምስበለ፡

   ነቲ ዓንዲ ካምሲን ኣጥቢቐ ሓቛቚፈ፣                 

   ስንብታይ ጸንቢለ ግርም ታንጎ ደኒሰ።

6. Here I Leave my Skull for You / መኣዝን ሰሃራ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   I, too, put my trust in footprints and shadows to cross the expanse

   Now, the khamsin devours the horizons; the stars are gone

   Here I leave my skull for you, as dreams drift towards Europe.

    

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ኣሰርን ጽላሎትን ኣሚነ’የ ተበጊሰ ክስንጥቕ ኣነ’ውን፡

   ከዋኽብቲ የለውን ካምሲን ስለ ዝውሕጦ ንመኣዝን፣

   ሽክናይ ይገድፈልካ’ለኹ ብሕልሚ ንኤውሮጳ ዝዋዝን።

7. Our Recent Family Picture / ሓድሽ ስእሊ ስድራይ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   If you look straight at our recent family picture,  

   You can count a family of five, 

   I, the forlorn anchor in the center.

   With an empty smile, the wife stands beside me

   With surprised looks, three sitting children,   

   Draw what occurs to them.

    

   If you tilt the picture rightward,  

   You see the wife’s flailing hands

   And the children’s glimmering faces 

   I loom behind, masked by a cloud of smoke.

    

   If you tilt the picture leftward,

   You can see the wife knitting fantasies; 

   The children building, a new home, perhaps

   And I looking skyward praying to be born again.

    

   If you look at the picture from behind,

   You can see five figures fumbling into the dark, 

   Searching perhaps for shelter or perhaps for sanctuary--

   A place for screams of anguish or shouts of bliss. 

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ፊት ንፊት እንተ ሪኢኻዮ ንስእሊ እዚ ስድራ 

   ሓሙሽተ ትፈቅድ፣ ኣብ ማእኸል ተዓኒደ ኣነ፡

   ምስ ግቱር ፍሽኽታ፡ ብጐነይ ብዓልቲ እንዳ፡

   ምስ ዝሩግ ቀውታ፡ ሰለስተ ዕያላት ዘራፈጡ፡

   ዝመጸሎም ዝስእሉ ስም ዘይብሉ ዝሓናጥጡ። 

    

   ንየማን ወገን እንተ ሪኢኻዮ ኣሰይፍ ኣቢልካ 

   ትዕዘብ፣ ብዓልቲ እንዳ ምስ ጽሕጋር ወስታ፡  

   ዕያላት ገጾም ብዓቢ ዝርአ ድሙቕ ጅልሕታ፡ 

   ኣነ ኸኣ ብድሕሪት ብነት ተገቲረ ትኪ ዒግታ።  

    

   ንጸጋም ወገን እንተ ሪኢኻ  ቑሩብ ኣሰይፍካ

   ትዕዘብ፣ ዓዘርዘር ትፈትል ብዓልቲ እንዳ፡ 

   ዕያላት ዝጕድጉዱ ምናልባት ሓድሽ ስፈራ፡ 

   ዘንቓዕረረ ኣነ ንዳግማይ ውልደት ምህለላ።  

    

   ብሕቖ እንተ ሪኢኻ በቲ ብግልባጡ ኣብቲ ሌጣ 

   ትዕዘብ፣ እቶም ሓሙሽተ ፍጥረት ኣብ ሃሰውታ፡ 

   ምናልባት መስፈሪ ገበላ ወይ’ውን ገለርያ እለሻ፡ 

   ምናልባት ንኣውያት ወይ’ውን ንስሓቕ ብዓውታ። 

8. The Scream / ጽምዲ ኡእታ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   In the gallery, I come face to face with “The Scream”

   The painting by Edvard Munch

   And in it, I feel I have found a fellow-traveler, a brother 

    

   I was raised and fattened on war

   When my country’s pillars crumbled, I embraced exile

   I hold back my own cries, the painting has enough 

    

   So I imagine tearing the frame loose

   Infuse it with the bottled screams of the war within me

   And then suddenly the canvas breathes, releasing a harrowing shriek.  

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   “ኡእታ” ብኤድዋርድ ሙንክ ዝተቐብአ፡ 

   ሙዚየም ኣራኺብና ኣብ ፊቱ እንድየ ቈይመ

   ሽዑ ተሰሚዑኒ መትሎይ ዝረኸብኩ ወዲ’ነ።  

    

   ብላህመት ኲናት’የ ዓብየ፡ ከሲዐ፡ ሃዝሪጠ፡                                                               

   ምርኲስ ዓደይ ተሰይሩኒ፡ ስደት’የ ተደጊፈ፣                                                               

   ነቲ ቕባኣ ኸየእውየሉ ናቱ ኸኣ ኣለዎ ካዕበ።                                                                             

                                                                                                                   

   ነቲ ዝሓቖፎ ፍሬም ብሓሳበይ በነቛቚረ፡     

   ዛንታ ውግእን ኣነን ምስ ገበርኩሉ ቀይረ፣   

   ሽዑ እቲ ቕብኣ ትንፋስ ሰዂዑ ኣንፈርፈረ። 

9. Insect / ሓሸራ

   

   

   ENGTIR

   Let’s declare today my birthday

   Six eyes glimmer in the dark, 

   like constellations: my children Bizen, Laza, Khonet

   (They have inherited most from their mother, 

   might I add, for the reader’s sake.) 

    

   They set out to draw a portrait of me,

   a birthday gift.

    

   On the paper, they sketch a circle and two lines each 

   By their age, they mark one large at the base, a smaller mid-way, 

   and the smallest at the top.

    

   Then onto this form, they add two protruding lines each

    

   Now they gaze bewildered at the creation: an insect?

   And I, tethered to this bed by unseen stiches,  

   How can I deny this curious creep is not me?

   Translated by Ghirmai Negash

   ዕለተ ልደተይ ኮይኑ’ሎ ንበል --

    

   ሽድሽተ ኣዕንቲ፡ ኣብ ጸላም ዘብረቕርቑ 

   ከዋኽብቲ፡ ሰለስተ ደቀይ ማለት 

   ቢዘን ላዛ ኰነት።

   (ዚበዝሐ ናይ ኣዲኦም ዚወሰዱ ፍጥረት፡ 

   እዚ ንእግሪ መገዲ ዚተወሰኸ’ዩ ሃንደበት።)

    

   ደልዮም ኪህቡኒ ስእለይ፡ 

   ኪህቡኒ ህያብ ናይ ልደተይ፣

    

   ሓሓንቲ ክቢ፡ ከክልተ ጽምዲ ሕንጻጽ፡

   ከከም ዕድሚኦም ከኣ ዚዓቐኑ ኣዋጺኦም፡

    

   ነቲ ክቢ ሰሪዖም፡ ብጎኒ ኸኣ ነቲ ሕንጻጽ

   ሰዂዖም፣ ሓርበቶም ለመምታ ናተፈጥረት፣

    

   ብሕቡእ ውጋእ ከለኹ ኣብ ዓራት ተሰፍየ፡

   ኣነ ንሱ ኣይኮንኩን ክብሎም ከመይ ገይረ?

10. Farewell Mother / ስንብታ ኣደ

    

    

    ENGTIR

    Mother stands before me, age 90 

    Crossed oceans to bid her final farewell

    To us, her children condemned from attending her funeral

     

    Enclosed as if within a boxing ring, 

    circled by electric fences, nowhere to run, 

    We stand feable, gloves heavy with the parting 

    And so it went ...

    
    
     

    First Round

     

    As we are both vision-blurred 

    We stand pressing forehead to forehead, seeking clarity

     

    For her it is her right-eye, for me the left

    We struggle to land our punches; the fists of nostalgia keep missing.

    
    
     

    Second Round

     

    Her wrinkled face and its fine lines 

    Weave wonder like tangling roads

     

    I attempt to unravel the layers to see her true essence 

    But the skeins of years block my view.

    
    
     

    Third Round

     

    Long devoid of her teeth, 

    her smile has sunk to the bottom

     

    I reach to lift it from the depth

    But a gush of grief from the pit knocks me over.

    
     

    Fourth Round

     

    I yearn to kneel before her and kiss her warm embrace

    Traveling down through the throat, navigating her unfathomable paths

     

    Lest the crumbling wreckage of her core collapse,

    I tread softly, listening to the hollow of forgotten echoes. 

    
    
     

    Fifth Round

     

    When the bell rings, we are both exhausted

    Blessedly, her hearing has faded 

     

    Yet I stand stunned, as if struck by a hammer, 

    driving the final nail of our parting.

    Translated by Ghirmai Negash

    ኣደይ ኣብ ቕድመይ ኣላ ንበል ጓል ቴስዓ

    ክትሰናበት ዝመጸት ውቅያኖሳት ሰንጢቓ    

    ነቶም ኣብ ቀብራ ዘይንውዕል ዝተወገዝና ደቃ

     

    ሽዑ ልክዕ ከም ኣብ መጓሰጢ ሰገነት ዘሎና

    ብሽቦ ኤለትሪክ ዝተሓጽረ ከይንሃድም ከኣ

    ክልተ ድኹማን መጓሰጢ ስንብታ ዝኸበደና 

     

    ድሕሪኡስ ከምዚ ድኣ ኾነ

    
    
     

    ዙር ሓደ 

     

    ክልቴና ግሱማት ሰብ ድኹማን ዓይኒ

    ክንላገብ ኔሩና ብነጽሪ ክንርእአ ምእንቲ

     

    የማነይታ ድፍንቲ ናተይ ከኣ ጸጋመይቲ

    ተሸገርና ደኣ ጉስጢ ናፍቖት እናወጸ ፎሪ 

    
    
     

    ዙር ክልተ 

     

    እቲ ፈጋዕጋዕ ዝበለ ገጻ እልቢ ሕንጻጻቱ

    ሸዅሸዀ ዘትሕዝ ጥውያታት እልመቱ

                                            

    ቐሊጠ ተርኣኹዋ ጫፍ መዚዘ ጠምጠምኩ           

    ተኸዊለ ብእምባ እቲ ምልቚ ጨ ድኣ ኾንኩ ጥቕላል                                          

    
    
     

    ዙር ሰለስተ 

     

    ለካ ኣስናና ዘመን’ዩ ኾይኑ ካብ ዝረግፉ

    ፍሽኽተኣ ኸኣ ወዲቑ’ዩ ናብ ከስዓ ጸዲፉ

     

    ገሊለ ከውጽኦ ቊልቁል ኢደይ ወርዊረ

    ብጠግታ ቐዝሒ እህህታኣ ስጋይ ተቐምረረ

    
    
     

    ዙር ኣርባዕተ 

     

    ተወናዊነ ነቲ ዝፈጠረኒ ማህጸን ክሳለመ         

    ብጎረሮ ወረድኩ መሽጐራጒሩ ተጸሚመ

     

    ዝባደመ ዃና ከየብለኒ ሓዶሽ ረጊጸ ብቐስታ

    ዘረረኒ መቓልሕ ናይቲ ዝነቐጸ ማእሲ ዋይታ                                          

    
    
    
     

    ዙር ሓሙሽተ 

     

    ደወል የቃጭል ኣሎ ክልቴና ተሰኒፍና

    እዝና የዳግም’ዩ ነደይስ እዝጊ ሓጊዝዋ 

     

    ኣነ ግን ኣጽቂጠ ስለዝኾነኒ ከም ሞደሻ          

    ድምጺ ትስምር ዘላ ንሳጹን ናይ ስንብታ

11. A Portrait of an Immigrant / ስእሊ ስደተኛ

    

    

    ENGTIR

    Exile has molded me into a hailstone

    I am a companion to the tempestuous rain

     

    A boy lingers in the door way 

    Watching my movements 

     

    Fascinated, he studies me like a precious pebble

    A sudden lightening flash shatters 

     

    His mother ushers him inside 

    And he smuggles me along, 

    concealed in his grasp (to evade her scolding)

     

    At last, he unfurls his fingers to satiate his curiosity to know me

    There he finds me, dissolved and formless.   

    Translated by Ghirmai Negash

    ብስደት ንበል ፍረ በረድ ኮይነ ኣለኹ

    ነቲ ሁር ዝብል ዝናብ ኸኣ መጓርዕቱ 

     

    ሓደ ቈልዓ ኸኣ’ሎ ብረምታና ተዓጂቡ

    ኣብ ድርዂት ተቐልቒሉ ንዓይ ቖሊቡ

     

    ተዓዚሙ ከም ሉል እናርኣየኒ ኣገላቢጡ

    ሃንደበት ወዮ መዐጠሊ በርቂ ተተርቢዑ

     

    ዚሰንበደት ኣደ ሲሒባ ንውሽጢ ዘእተወቶ 

    መግናሕቲ ፈሪሑ ሒዙኒ ዝኣተወ ብዕምኾ

     

    ብባህጊ ኸፈቱ ተርኣየኒ ኣቢሉ ኽውልውል

    ቕርጺ ኣልቦ ኾይነ ጸኒሐዮ ወረረረር ዝብል