Louise Bennett-Coverley and Jamaican Patois: A Unique Truth
Posted: February 7, 2012 Filed under: English: Jamaican Patois, Louise Bennett-Coverley | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Louise Bennett-Coverley and Jamaican Patois: A Unique Truthby Louise Bennett-Coverley
.
“Dutty Tough”
.
Sun a shine but tings no bright;
Doah pot a bwile, bickle no nuff;
River flood but water scarce, yawl
Rain a fall but dutty tough.
Tings so bad dat nowadays when
Yuh ask smaddy how dem do
Dem fraid yuh tek it tell dem back,
So dem no answer yuh.
No care omuch we dah work fa
Hard-time still een we shut;
We dah fight, Hard-time a beat we,
Dem might raise we wages, but
One poun gawn awn pon we pay, an
We no feel no merriment
For ten poun gawn pon we food
An ten pound pon we rent!
Saltfish gawn up, mackerel gawn up.
Pork en beef gawn up,
An when rice and butter ready
Dem just go pon holiday!
Claht, boot, pin an needle gawn up’
Ice, bread, taxes, water-rate
Kersene ile, gasolene, gawn up;
An de poun devaluate.
De price of bread gawn up so high
Dat we haffi agree
Fi cut we yeye pon bred an all
Tun dumplin refugee
An all dem marga smaddy weh
Dah gwan like fat is sin
All dem-deh weh dah fas wid me
Ah lef dem to dumpling!
Sun a shine an pot a bwile, but
Things no bright, bickle no nuff
Rain a fall, river dah flood, but,
Water scarce and dutty tough.
. . .
“Colonization in Reverse” (1966)
.
Wat a joyful news, Miss Mattie,
I feel like me heart gwine burs
Jamaica people colonizin
Englan in Reverse
By de hundred, by de tousan
From country and from town,
By de ship-load, by de plane load
Jamaica is Englan boun.
Dem a pour out a Jamaica,
Everybody future plan
Is fe get a big-time job
An settle in de mother lan.
What an islan! What a people!
Man an woman, old an young
Jus a pack dem bag an baggage
An turn history upside dung!
Some people doan like travel,
But fe show dem loyalty
Dem all a open up cheap-fare-
To-England agency.
An week by week dem shippin off
Dem countryman like fire,
Fe immigrate an populate
De seat a de Empire.
Oonoo see how life is funny,
Oonoo see da turnabout?
Jamaica live fe box bread
Out a English people mout’.
For wen dem ketch a Englan,
An start play dem different role,
Some will settle down to work
An some will settle fe de dole.
Jane says de dole is not too bad
Because dey payin she
Two pounds a week fe seek a job
dat suit her dignity.
me say Jane will never fine work
At de rate how she dah look,
For all day she stay pon Aunt Fan couch
An read love-story book.
Wat a devilment a Englan!
Dem face war an brave de worse,
But me wonderin how dem gwine stan
Colonizin in reverse.
_____
Louise Bennett-Coverley (1919-2006) was
Jamaica’s much-loved poet of Patois – and she
used her people’s language with warmth, humour
and trenchant wit.
As a performer on stage, and through radio
and television, Louise Bennett-Coverley “carried on”
and “held forth” in Patois – often in character as “Miss Lou” –
bringing the language’s uniqueness and truth
to the forefront.
*
Louise Bennett-Coverley’s poems “Dutty Tough”
and “Colonization in Reverse” are
© Louise Bennett-Coverley Estate and are
here reprinted by permission of her Executors.
These poems may not be duplicated
or reproduced without prior consent of the
Executors of her Estate.
. . . . .
Bob Marley: ¡Despierten y Vivan! / Wake Up and Live!
Posted: February 6, 2012 Filed under: Bob Marley, English, Spanish, Translator's Whimsy: Song Lyrics / Extravagancia del traductor: Letras de canciones traducidas por Alexander Best, ZP Translator: Alexander Best | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Bob Marley: ¡Despierten y Vivan! / Wake Up and Live!“Wake up and Live!”
Wake up and live, y’all,
Wake up and live,
Wake up and live now,
Wake up and live!
*
Me say: Life is one big road with lots of signs,
So when you riding through the ruts,
Don’t you complicate your mind.
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy,
Don’t bury your thoughts
– put your vision to reality, yeah!
*
All together now:
Wake up and live, y’all,
Wake up and live,
Wake up and live now,
Wake up and live!
*
Rise, ye mighty people,
There’s work to be done.
So let’s do it, a little by little.
Rise from your sleepless slumber, yeah!
We’re more than sand on the seashore,
We’re more than numbers.
*
All together now:
Wake up and live, y’all,
Wake up and live,
Wake up and live now,
Wake up and live!
*
Woah, one-one cocoa full a basket,
When you use to live big today –
tomorrow you buried in a casket.
One-one cocoa full a basket, yeah,
When you use to live big today –
Tomorrow: buried in a casket!
*
All together now:
Wake up and live, y’all,
Wake up and live,
Wake up and live now,
Wake up and live!
_____
¡Despierten y Vivan!
Despierten y vivan, todos ustedes,
Despierta y vive,
Despierta y vive ahora,
Despierta y vive!
*
Digo: La vida es un camino grande con un montón de signos,
Así que cuando montas a caballo a través de los surcos,
no te complicas la mente.
Huid de odio, maldad y los celos –
No entierres los pensamientos,
ponga su visión en realidad, ¡sí!
*
Despierten y vivan, todos ustedes,
Despierta y vive,
Despierta y vive ahora,
Despierta y vive!
*
Aumenten, ustedes-los-poderosos,
Hay trabajo por hacer,
Así que vamos a hacerlo, poco a poco.
Aumente del sueño sin dormir, sí, sí,
Somos mucho más que arena en la orilla del mar,
Somos mucho más que unos números.
*
Todos juntos ahora:
Despierten y vivan, todos ustedes,
Despierta y vive,
Despierta y vive ahora,
¡Despierta y vive!
*
¿No lo ves? Una pila de cacao en una canasta,
Cuando estás viviendo “a lo grande” hoy día –
Mañana, ¡serás enterrado en un ataúd!
¿No lo ves? Una pila de cacao en una canasta,
Cuando estás viviendo “a lo grande” hoy día –
Mañana, ¡serás enterrado en un ataúd!
*
Todos juntos ahora:
Despierten y vivan, todos ustedes,
Despierta y vive,
Despierta y vive ahora,
¡Despierta y vive!
_____
Letras de una canción de 1979 – del poeta-músico
jamaicano Robert Nesta Marley a.k.a. Bob Marley
(6 febrero, 1945 – mayo 1981)
Traducción del inglés al español: Alexander Best
*
Song lyrics from 1979 by Jamaican poet and musician
Robert Nesta Marley a.k.a. Bob Marley
(February 6th, 1945 – May 1981)
Translation into Spanish: Alexander Best
_____
Juliane Okot Bitek: “Dans Sept Jours” et “À Langston Hughes”
Posted: February 1, 2012 Filed under: English, French, Juliane Okot Bitek, ZP Translator: Lan Truong, ZP Translator: Lidia García Garay | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Juliane Okot Bitek: “Dans Sept Jours” et “À Langston Hughes”_____
“Dans Sept Jours”
Une main delicate
tient un eventail
Evoque des souvenirs de la performance d’un amoureux
*
Dis-moi
Dis-moi car je ne m’imagine pas
La chaleur qui se lève dans l’arrière de ma gorge
S’étendre dans ma poitrine
Tombe
Et se dépose
*
Je ne reviendrai pas vers toi
*
Une fleur se ferme
Se dessèche à cause de la froide étreinte
D’un vent sec et amer
*
Tout sera fini
Dans sept jours.
_____
“À Langston Hughes”
Si tu ne restes pas
Pour lire mon coeur,
Cela ne me dérange pas
*
J’ai déchiré ton livre de poésie
*
Tu as menti:
Comme je prenais le train à Harlem
Tu as déraillé.
_____
Le poète Juliane Okot Bitek est née à Kenya en 1966.
Elle a passé son enfance en Ouganda.
Et maintenant elle habite à Vancouver, Canada.
*
Traductions de l’anglais au français:
Lidia Garcia Garay, Lan Truong
_____
“Seven Days”
A delicate hand
Holds a fan
Evokes memories of a lover’s performance
Tell me
Tell me that I do not imagine
The heat that rises at the back of my throat
Spreads through my chest
Falls
And settles
I am not returning to you
A flower folds up
Shrivels from the cold embrace
Of a dry and bitter wind
In seven days
It will be over.
_____
“To Langston Hughes”
That you will not stay
To read my heart
Doesn’t matter to me
I tore your book of poetry
You lied:
While I took the Harlem train uptown
You strayed.
_____
Poet Juliane Okot Bitek was born in Kenya in 1966
and spent her childhood in Uganda.
She now lives in Vancouver, Canada.
_____
Langston Hughes: “La Señora y su Señora” / “Madame et sa Madame” / “Madam and her Madam”
Posted: February 1, 2012 Filed under: English: Black Canadian / American, French, Langston Hughes, Spanish, ZP Translator: Lan Truong, ZP Translator: Lidia García Garay | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Langston Hughes: “La Señora y su Señora” / “Madame et sa Madame” / “Madam and her Madam”_____
Langston Hughes (February 1st, 1902 – 1967)
“Madam and Her Madam”
I worked for a woman,
She wasn’t mean–
But she had a twelve-room
House to clean.
*
Had to get breakfast,
Dinner, and supper, too–
Then take care of her children
When I got through.
*
Wash, iron, and scrub,
Walk the dog around–
It was too much,
Nearly broke me down.
*
I said, Madam,
Can it be
You trying to make a
Pack-horse out of me?
*
She opened her mouth.
She cried, Oh, no!
You know, Alberta,
I love you so!
*
I said, Madam,
That may be true–
But I’ll be dogged
If I love you!
_____
“La Señora y su Señora”
por Langston Hughes
Trabajé para una mujer
No era muy malvada—
Ella tenía una casa de doce cuartos
que yo tenía que limpiar.
*
Tenía que hacer desayuno,
Almuerzo y cena también—
Después atender a los niños,
Al terminar.
*
Lavar, planchar, y limpiar
Llevar a caminar al perro…
Era demasiado,
Casi me destroza.
*
Yo le dije, Señora,
¿Es posible que usted
Está tratando de convertirme
En un caballo de carga?
*
Ella habrió su boca
Y exclamó:
¡Oh, no!
Sabes Alberta,
¡Yo a tí te quiero mucho!
*
Yo le dije: Señora,
Puede que eso sea verdad—
¡Pero que desgracia la mía
Si yo la quiero a usted!
*
Traducción del inglés al español: Lidia García Garay
_____
“Madame et sa Madame”
par Langston Hughes
J’ai travaillé pour une femme,
Elle n’était pas méchante—
Elle avait une maison avec
douze chambres
Que je devais nettoyer.
Préparer le petit déjeuner,
Le déjeuner et le dîner aussi—
Je devais garder ses enfants
Après tout ca.
Faire la lessive et la repasser,
et nettoyer le plancher,
Promener son chien—
C’était trop!,
Le travail m’a fait presque craquer.
*
Je lui ai dit: Madame,
Est-ce qu’il est possible
Que vous essayiez
De me transformer en cheval de trait?
*
Elle a ouvert sa bouche.
Et elle a dit: Pas du tout!
Tu sais Alberta,
Je t’aime beaucoup!
*
Je lui ai dit: Madame,
Cela peut être la vérité
Mais je serais foutue
si je vous aime!
*
Traduction de l’anglais au français:
Lidia García Garay, Lan Truong
_____
Langston Hughes: “La Vida es buena” / “La Vie est bien” / “Life is Fine”
Posted: February 1, 2012 Filed under: English: Black Canadian / American, French, Spanish, ZP Translator: Lan Truong, ZP Translator: Lidia García Garay | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Langston Hughes: “La Vida es buena” / “La Vie est bien” / “Life is Fine”_____
Langston Hughes (February 1st, 1902 – 1967)
“Life is Fine”
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn’t,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn’t a-been so cold
I might’ve sunk and died.
But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!
*
I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn’t a-been so high
I might’ve jumped and died.
But it was high up there! It was high!
*
So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry–
I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!
_____
“La Vida es Buena”
por Langston Hughes
Fuí al río
Me senté a la orilla
Traté de pensar sin éxito alguno,
Entonces me lancé al agua y me hundí
¡Salí una vez y grité!
¡Sali una segunda vez y lloré!
Si el agua no hubiera estado tan fría
Me habría hundido y habría muerto
¡Pero estaba
Frío en el agua!
¡Hacía frío!
*
Tomé el ascensor
Quince pisos arriba
Pensé en mi amor
Y pensé que me tiraría
¡Estube un rato y grité!
¡Estube un rato y lloré!
Si no hubiera estado tan alto
Habría saltado y muerto.
¡Pero estaba muy alto allá arriba!
*
Entonces ya que estoy aquí vivo,
Supongo que seguiré viviendo.
Yo podría haber muerto por amor,
Pero para vivir nací
Aunque me oigan gritar—
Y me oigan llorar
Que desgracia la mía, dulce amor,
Si tu me vas a ver morir.
¡La Vida es Buena! ¡Buena como el vino! ¡La Vida es Buena!
*
Traducción del inglés al español: Lidia García Garay
_____
“La Vie est Bien”
par Langston Hughes
(1er février, 1902 – 1967)
Je suis allé à la rivière,
me suis assis sur le bord,
J’ai essayé de penser mais je n’en ai pas pu,
alors je me suis jeté dans l’eau et j’ai coulé,
Je suis sorti de là et j’ai beuglé!
Une deuxième fois et j’ai pleuré.
Si l’eau n’avait pas été si froide
j’aurais coulé et été mort.
Mais il faisait froid dans l’eau!
*
J’ai pris l’ascenseur,
suis monté dans le seizième étage,
J’ai pensé a mon amour
Et j’ai pensé à me jeter du haut de l’édifice.
Je suis resté un moment et j’ai beuglé!
Je suis resté là et j’ai pleuré!
Si où j’était n’était si haut
j’aurais eu me jeter et mourir.
Mais il était très haut là bas!
*
Alors, comme je suis encore ici et vivant,
Ça veut dire que je vais continuer à vivre.
Je serais mort à cause de l’amour
Mais je suis né pour vivre.
Vous pouvez m’entendre hurler
Et vous pouvez me voir pleurer –
Je serais foutu, mon amour,
Si tu me vois mourir.
La vie est bonne! Comme le vin est bon! La vie est bien!
*
Traduction de l’anglais au français:
Lidia García Garay, Lan Truong
_____
Langston Hughes: “Yo también, canto a América…”/ “I, too, sing America…”
Posted: February 1, 2012 Filed under: English, Langston Hughes, Spanish | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Langston Hughes: “Yo también, canto a América…”/ “I, too, sing America…”_____
Langston Hughes (1 febrero 1902 – 1967)
“Yo también, canto a América”
Yo también, canto a América.
Yo soy el hermano de piel oscura.
Ellos me mandan a comer a la cocina
cuando vienen las visitas.
Pero yo me río,
Y como bien,
Y crezco fuerte.
Mañana,
Yo comeré en la mesa
Cuando las visitas lleguen.
Entonces,
Nadie se atreverá
A decirme,
“Come en la cocina,”
Además,
Ellos verán que tan bello soy
Y sentirán vergüenza-
Yo, también, soy América.
(1925)
Traducción del inglés al español:
Anónimo/Anónima (de los años sesenta)
_____
“I, too, sing America”
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
I, too, am America.
(1925)
_____
Langston Hughes as Translator: Lorca’s “Gypsy Ballads”
Posted: February 1, 2012 Filed under: English, Federico García Lorca, Langston Hughes, Spanish | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Langston Hughes as Translator: Lorca’s “Gypsy Ballads”_____
Brawl
Half way down the ravine,
Gay with rival blood
The knives of Albacete
Shine like fishes.
*
A light hard as playing cards
In the acid greenness
Silhouettes furious horses
And the profiles of riders.
*
On the crest of an olive tree
Two old women cry.
The bull of the dispute
Charges up the walls.
Black angels bring
Handkerchiefs and snow-water,
Angels with big wings
Made of knives from Albacete.
*
Juan Antonio of Montilla
Rolls dead down the hill,
His body full of lilies
And a pomegranate at his temples.
Now he rides a cross of fire
On the road to death.
*
The judge, with the Civil Guards,
Comes through the olive groves.
Slippery blood sings
A silent song of serpents.
Honourable Civil Guards:
The same as usual –
Four Romans dead
And five Carthaginians.
*
Crazed with hot rumours and fig trees,
The afternoon falls fainting
On the wounded limbs of the riders.
Black angels fly
Through the western air,
Angels with long braids
And hearts of oil.
_____
“Reyerta”
En la mitad del barranco
las navajas de Albacete,
bellas de sangre contraria,
relucen como los peces.
*
Una dura luz de naipe
recorta en el agrio verde
caballos enfurecidos
y perfiles de jinetes.
*
En la copa de un olivo
lloran dos viejas mujeres.
El toro de la reyerta
su sube por la paredes.
Angeles negros traían
pañuelos y agua de nieve.
Angeles con grandes alas
de navajas de Albacete.
*
Juan Antonio el de Montilla
rueda muerto la pendiente
su cuerpo lleno de lirios
y una granada en las sienes.
Ahora monta cruz de fuego,
carretera de la muerte.
*
El juez con guardia civil,
por los olivares viene.
Sangre resbalada gime
muda canción de serpiente.
Señores guardias civiles:
aquí pasó lo de siempre.
Han muerto cuatro romanos
y cinco cartagineses
*
La tarde loca de higueras
y de rumores calientes
cae desmayada en los muslos
heridos de los jinetes.
Y ángeles negros volaban
por el aire del poniente.
Angeles de largas trenzas
y corazones de aceite.
_____
The Faithless Wife
I took her to the river
Thinking she was single,
But she had a husband.
It was Saint James’ Eve,
And almost because I had to.
The street lights went out
And the crickets lit up.
At the farthest corners
I touched her sleeping breasts
And they opened for me quickly
Like bouquets of hyacinths.
The starch of her underskirts
Rustled in my ears
Like a piece of silk
Slit by ten knives.
With no silver light to crown them
The trees grew bigger,
While a horizon of dogs barked
Afar from the river.
*
Beyond the brambles,
The bulrushes, and the hawthorns,
I made her mat of hair
Hollow the muddy bank.
I took off my tie,
She took off her dress,
Me, my belt with the pistol,
She, the four parts of her bodice.
Neither lilies nor snail shells
Have such a lovely skin,
Nor do the crystals of the moon
Shine with such a light.
Half bathed in fire
And half bathed in ice,
Her thighs slipped from me
Like frightened fish.
That night I rode
Down the best of roads
On a mother-of-pearl filly
With no bridle and no stirrups.
Being a man, I can’t tell you
The things that she told me.
The light of understanding
Makes me very careful.
Soiled with kisses and sand
I led her away from the river
While the swords of the lilies
Battled with the breeze.
I acted like the thoroughbred
Gypsy that I am,
And gave her a present,
A big sewing box
Of straw-coloured satin.
But I didn’t want
To fall in love with her
For, having a husband,
She told me she was single
When I took her to the river.
_____
“La Casada Infiel”
Y que yo me la llevé al río
creyendo que era mozuela,
pero tenía marido.
Fue la noche de Santiago
y casi por compromiso.
Se apagaron los faroles
y se encendieron los grillos.
En las últimas esquinas
toqué sus pechos dormidos,
y se me abrieron de pronto
como ramos de jacintos.
El almidón de su enagua
me sonaba en el oído,
como una pieza de seda
rasgada por diez cuchillos.
Sin luz de plata en sus copas
los árboles han crecido
y un horizonte de perros
ladra muy lejos del río.
*
Pasadas las zarzamoras,
los juncos y los espinos,
bajo su mata de pelo
hice un hoyo sobre el limo.
Yo me quité la corbata.
Ella se quitó el vestido.
Yo el cinturón con revólver.
Ella sus cuatro corpiños.
Ni nardos ni caracolas
tienen el cutis tan fino,
ni los cristales con luna
relumbran con ese brillo.
Sus muslos se me escapaban
como peces sorprendidos,
la mitad llenos de lumbre,
la mitad llenos de frío.
Aquella noche corrí
el mejor de los caminos,
montado en potra de nácar
sin bridas y sin estribos.
No quiero decir, por hombre,
las cosas que ella me dijo.
La luz del entendimiento
me hace ser muy comedido.
Sucia de besos y arena
yo me la llevé del río.
Con el aire se batían
las espadas de los lirios.
*
Me porté como quién soy.
Como un gitano legítimo.
La regalé un costurero
grande, de raso pajizo,
y no quise enamorarme
porque teniendo marido
me dijo que era mozuela
cuando la llevaba al río.
_____
Langston Hughes ( February 1st 1902 – 1967)
lived in México for part of his boyhood, and,
two decades later, travelled to
Spain when he became interested in Communism.
Though he was familiar with the Spanish poetry of
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936),
the poet had already been killed by the time
Hughes got to Spain (toward the end of
The Spanish Civil War) in 1938.
*
Inspired by the Fiesta de Cante Jondo (Festival of
Deep Song) in 1922, Lorca had immersed himself
in the gypsy subculture of Andalucía, Spain. The
result was his 1928 collection of poems,
“Primer romancero gitano”. In 1951, Langston
Hughes published his translations into English
of a dozen or so of these “Gypsy Ballads”,
two of which we feature here.
_____
“Scrunter”: The Cheeky Caroler
Posted: December 24, 2011 Filed under: English: Trinidadian | Tags: Black poets, Christmas carols and songs Comments Off on “Scrunter”: The Cheeky Caroler_____
Home-Made Wine (Aye, Miss Gloria)
Lyrics by the Calypsonian “Scrunter”
(Irwin Reyes Johnson) from Trinidad and Tobago
*
Note:
“parang” is Trinidad Christmas music,
originally from Venezuela – and
“paranging” is caroling – singers and musicians
going from house to house and given food and
drink for Nativity/Good Will songs sung in Spanish
and English.
“wine” is a double-entendre – it means, of course,
the alcoholic drink, but also: to dance freely, with
vitality and erotic possibility
*
Leh we go !
Ah went paranging by meh neighbour,
Ah went by Miss Gloria (aye Miss Gloria)
Ah say, madame – what you have to offer?
She said, ah have everyt’ing right here (aye Miss Gloria)
Ah doh buy whiskey – neither strong rum
– it is against my religion (aye Miss Gloria)
Ah have homemade wine in all description
Rude boy, you could sample any one.
Pommecité (pom pom pom), Hog Plum, Cashew and Guava
Banana, Five-Finger, Balata and Cane
Ah want some homemade wine, madame Gloria
Gimme some homemade wine, it nice
Ah want some homemade wine, madame Gloria
Gimme some homemade wine, it sweet
Pom pom, pom pom pom pom…….
Ah have black cake from Joan already
So right now ah doh want no more (aye Miss Gloria)
But all dem local wine you present me
Ah got to taste some a dem for sure (aye Miss Gloria)
Oh madame, which one is yuh favourite?
Bring it out, quick – lemme taste it (aye Miss Gloria)
Is you who make – and you must know
– Ah want a good head before ah go !
Citrus, Hibicus, Dandyroot, Passionfruit
Temawee, Strawberry, Aloes and Rice wine
She say, Cocoa wine does give me short breath
And sometimes it make me upset (aye Miss Gloria)
Maybe de seed does have it so strong
Or ah leave it in de jam too long (aye Miss Gloria)
When it comes to wine ah have de recipe
Go out deh – ask anybody (aye Miss Gloria)
Any function, any party
Dem people does come running-running to me !
Cocoa, Long mango, Carili, Temawee,
Guava, Balata, Plantain and Cane wine
Paw-paw, Aloes (aye Miss Gloria)
Corn wine, Ah have cane wine
Fig wine (aye Miss Gloria)
Pom pom, pom pom pom pom,
Coconut wine
Hard wine ! Aye Miss Gloria !
Pom pom, pom pom pom pom,
It sweet, it sweet,
It nice nice nice nice nice…
_____
Reesom Haile: the Lively Voice of Eritrea / la Voz Vivaz de Eritrea
Posted: December 1, 2011 Filed under: English, Reesom Haile: La voz vivaz de Eritrea / the lively voice of Eritrea, Spanish, Tigrinya, ZP Translator: Alexander Best | Tags: African poetry - Eritrea, Black poets Comments Off on Reesom Haile: the Lively Voice of Eritrea / la Voz Vivaz de Eritrea
_____ * _____ * _____
KNOWLEDGE
First the earth, then the plow:
So knowledge comes out of knowledge.
We know, we don’t know.
We don’t know we know.
We know we don’t know.
We think
This looks like that –
This lemon, that orange –
Until we taste the bitter.
_____
DEVELOPMENT
Change.
Like a child, an infant.
“Let’s go ! Let’s go !”
And our household grows.
“Let’s run.”
We can slow
And sit and stretch
In the sun
Till it sets, but tomorrow
Dawned yesterday.
_____
UNDER CONSIDERATION
Consider this.
Consider that.
Excellent.
Write it
And propose it
For consideration.
Also consider
The official response,
“It’s under consideration.”
Who is considering whom?
When? Where?
How? Why?
Give up? Consider this.
_____
LEARNING FROM HISTORY
We learned from Marx and Lenin:
To be equal trim your feet
For one-size-fits-all shoes.
We made their mistakes, too.
Equally, we all make mistakes.
The evil is in not being corrected.
Aren’t we known
By what we do, undo and do again?
_____
YOUR HEAD
From birth you need
A door in your head to live.
Mother, father, teacher, preacher,
Sister, brother, relations, friends
Or others of your kind
May have the key
Or it may be lost.
But they still have other ways
To open the lock.
Rancid butter rubbed on your skull
May let the sunshine in.
The phrase, “What are you,
Stupid? Dumb?” might throw the bolt.
A flywhisk works on the less fragile.
A wooden spoon, a ruler or a good stick
Does the trick on harder nuts and…
Voilà! An open mind!
_____
SPEAK OUT
To speak out and to be spoken about,
Or to see no evil, hear no evil,
Shut up, keep it to yourself
And only complain in private?
That is not the question.
Read the constitution
Of our democratic state.
Exercise your rights
To tell it like it is,
Write as you see fit
And get a good night’s sleep.
You also have the right to take
Back what you say by mistake.
The freedom to express
Cannot be given up.
It comes from God.
Be free and brave.
Only one prison remains:
Our minds.
_____ * _____ * _____
El Saber
Al primero la tierra, pues el arado:
Tan que el saber viene del saber.
Sabemos, no sabemos.
No sabemos que sabemos.
Sabemos que no sabemos.
Pensamos que
Ésto parace como éso
– este limon, esa naranja –
hasta que degustemos el amargor.
_____
El Desarrollo
Cambio.
Como niño, como bebé.
¡Vamos! ¡Vamos!
Y crecen nuestro hogar.
¡Corramos!
Podemos aflojar el paso
Y sentarnos, estirando,
Bajo del sol,
Hasta el anochecer, pero
Ayer amaneció la mañana.
_____
Sobre la Consideración
Considera ésto.
Considera éso.
Escríbelo
Y proponlo
Por la consideración.
Considera también
La respuesta oficial:
“Éso es algo que estamos considerando.”
¿Quién está considerando a quién?
¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde?
¿Cómo – y Porqué?
¿Estás perplejo?
Considera ésto.
_____
Aprendiendo de la Historia
Aprendimos de Marx y Lenin:
A ser igual, recorta tus pies
por zapatos de unitalla.
(Cometimos sus errores también.)
Por otro lado, cometemos los errores
Todos nosotros.
Lo mal es no estar corregido.
¿ Nos conoce la gente
De lo que hacemos, deshacemos y hacemos de nuevo – no?
_____
Tu Cabeza
Del nacer te necesita
Una puerta en la cabeza para vivir.
Madre, padre, maestro, pastor.
Hermana, hermano, la familia y los amigos,
O unos otros de tu tipo
Tengan la llave
O la llave esté perdido.
Pero quedan otras maneras
Para abrir la cerradura.
La mantequilla rancia, frotada sobre el cráneo,
pueda dejar entrar la luz del sol.
La frase, “¿Eres cuál – Tonto? o Bobo?
Quizás levantará el pestillo.
Sirve bien un matamoscas sobre la gente menos delicada.
Una cuchara/regla de madera,
O un palo bueno,
Con las “cáscaras de nuez” mas duras
Logran el truco…
¡Y ya está! ¡La mente abierta!
_____
Habla – Di lo que piensas
¿Decir lo que se piensa y ser alguien discutido?
O: ¿A ver nada de mal, a oír nada de mal,
Cállate, guárdalo a tu mismo
Y quejarte en privado?
Éso no es la pregunta.
Leye la constitución
De nuestro estado democrático.
Ejerce tus derechos
A decir lo que es tu verdad,
Escribe por tu manera
Y duerme bien.
Tienes también el derecho de
Retirar lo que dijiste en error.
La libertad de expresar
no debe estar cedido.
Es algo de Dios.
Sé libre y valiente.
Solamente queda una cárcel:
Nuestra mente.
_____ * _____ * _____
Reesom Haile, who died in 2003, was a much-loved Eritrean
poet and public personality.
After working as a radio and television journalist in Ethiopia, he
studied in the USA where he completed a doctorate at New York
University. A consultant to the U.N., government and NGOs for
twenty years, he returned in 1994 to Eritrea whose thirty-year
independence struggle with Ethiopia had just drawn to a close.
(After five years of relatively peaceful relations the two
countries engaged in a border war (1998-2000)
– over Red Sea access – that claimed 100,000 lives.) The reality of
war has formed the backdrop to, and sometimes the impetus for,
Haile’s verse.
His language, Tigrinya, is spoken by half (about 3,000,000 people)
the countryfolk in a nation which includes 9 languages and a variety
of ethnic groups. Tigrinya derives from ancient Ge’ez, as do Tigre
and Amharic. And Ge’ez is related – like Arabic and Hebrew –
to Aramaic, said to be the language spoken by Jesus.
This is poetry that embraces the Eritrean people, turns an eye
both wry and loving on their history and politics, and also issues
a sincere challenge to “get cracking” !
It is verse of vitality and wit, and is rendered beautifully
into English by Professor Charles Cantalupo of Pennsylvania State
University – a poet himself and a translator who balances gravity of
theme with a lightness of touch, thereby giving us something
of the essential character of Reesom Haile.
*
The poems featured here are from Reesom Haile’s collection:
We Have Our Voice (Lawrenceville and Asmara: The Red Sea Press,
2000) – the first-ever bilingual edition (Tigrinya + English)
of Tigrinya poems. Zócalo Poets is grateful to Professor Cantalupo for
assistance in posting the Tigrinya originals.
Translations from the English into Spanish: Alexander Best
_____
Mucho amado por sus compatriotas, Reesom Haile fue un poeta y
erudito. Su país, Eritrea, está situado al noreste de África, con una
costa al borde del Mar Rojo.
Durante su vida – se murió en 2003 – escribió dos mil poemas en el
lenguaje Tigriña, un idioma antiguo de la familia lingüística semítica
(como árabe, hebreo, y arameo – “la lengua de Jesús de Nazaret”.)
Lleno de inteligencia, vitalidad y ingenio, sus poemas han estado
traducido por el profesor universitario Charles Cantalupo
(de Penn State) con tanta franqueza, con tanto encanto.
Traducción del inglés al español: Alexander Best
Macumba Words: Aimé Césaire
Posted: October 26, 2011 Filed under: Aimé Césaire, English, French, ZP Translator: Alexander Best | Tags: Black poets Comments Off on Macumba Words: Aimé CésaireZP_Aimé Césaire dans les années 1930
Macumba-Word
.
A word can be father to a saint,
words are the mothers of saints,
with a word that both chases and caresses one can
cross a river peopled by caïmans.
Sometimes I sketch a word on the sun,
with a cool, fresh word one spans a desert
in a day.
There are life-buoy words that ward off squalls,
there are iguana-words,
there are delicate words – phantom stick-insect words.
And those shadow-words
when one awakes in a rage of flying sparks.
There are Shango words.
And sometimes I swim slyly – playfully –
upon the back of a dolphin-word.
. . .
Glossary:
Macumba – an African (Bantu) word generally meaning “magic”
caïmans – a species of crocodile found in the Caribbean, Central and
South America; hunts along riverbanks
Shango – god of fire, thunder and lightning, from West-African religion
– mainly Yoruba; survived “The Middle Passage”, and is venerated in
Haitian vodou (voodoo) and Brazilian candomblé.
dolphin – perhaps a reference to two ‘dolphins’:
‘dauphin’ as in ‘Dauphin’, the old heir-apparent to France’s throne +
the notion of “correct” French;
also the Boto (Amazon River dolphin) of Afro-Brazilian religion
. . . . .
Mot-Macumba
.
Le mot est père des saints
le mot est mère des saints
avec le mot couresse on peut traverser un fleuve
peuplé de caïmans
Il m’arrive de dessiner un mot sur le sol
avec un mot frais on peut traverser le désert
d’une journée
Il y a des mots bâton-de-nage pour écarter les squales
il y a des mots iguanes
il y a des mots subtils ce sont des mots phasmes
il y a des mots d’ombre avec des réveils en colère
d’étincelles
Il y a des mots Shango
Il m’arrive de nager de ruse sur le dos d’un mot dauphin.
. . .
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was born and died in Martinique,
yet he was a man of the world. In his poetry and plays, both
full of hope and strength, he promoted decolonization
throughout the island-countries of the Caribbean. From
the geography and customs of those same islands he
drew much of his imagery – as in the poem featured above.
English translation: Alexander Best.
*
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) était un Martiniquais, aussi
un homme du monde. Dans sa poésie et son théâtre, et avec
de l’espérance et puissance, il a promis la décolonisation des
pays caraïbes. Ses paroles sont fondées sur la géographie et
les coutumes de ces mêmes îles. Par exemple: le poème ici…
Traduction en anglais: Alexander Best