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Entries from March 28th, 2013

Poetry in Translation (CLXXV): Ana Ristović (b. 1972, Serbia), “Snow in your shoes”, “Zăpadă în bocanci”

March 28th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLXXV): Ana Ristović (b. 1972, Serbia), “Snow in your shoes”, “Zăpadă în bocanci” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Snow in your shoes
Ana Ristović (Serbia)
Listen to what Eskimos say:
to build a good igloo,
for years you have to carry
snow in you shoes.
And a safety pin, forgotten
in your coat collar,
near the jugular.

Iată ce spun Eschimoşii:
Ca să poţi clădi
un iglou bun
trebuie mai întâi să mergi
cu zăpada în bocanci.
Si cu un ac de siguranţă
rătăcit sub gulerul paltonului
lângă jugular.
(Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013 Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

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Poetry in Translation (CLXXIV): William Carlos Williams (1883- 1963), American Poet, “The Old Man”, “Bătrânii”

March 28th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLXXIV): William Carlos Williams (1883- 1963), American Poet, “The Old Man”, “Bătrânii” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

The Old Men
William Carlos WILLIAMS

Old men who have studied
every leg show
in the city
Old men cut from touch
by the perfumed music—
polished or fleeced skulls
that stand before
the whole theater
in silent attitudes
of attention,—

Bătrânii care au văzut
fiacare cabaret
din oraş
Bătrânii trăind în altă lume
în parfumul muzicii –
având chelia bine lustruită
aşezati în rândul întâi
al teatrului
cu atenţia calmă
şi tăcută,
(Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013 Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

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Poetry in Translation (CLXXIII): Ali Ahmad Said Esbe, aka “Adonis”, (b.1930, Qassabin, Syria), Arab-Syrian Poet, “Un om sfârsit”, “They say I’m done for”

March 16th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLXXIII): Ali Ahmad Said Esbe, aka “Adonis”, (b.1930, Qassabin, Syria), Arab-Syrian Poet, “Un om sfârsit”, “They say I’m done for” · International Media, Poetry, Translations

Poetry in Translation (CLXXIII): Ali Ahmad Said Esbe , aka “Adonis”, (b. 1930), Arab-Syrian Poet, “Un om sfârsit”, “They say I’m done for”

Ali Ahmad Said Esbe , aka “Adonis”, Poet Arab, Siria (n. 1930)
Un om sfârsit (They say I’m done for)

Mi-au spus că sunt sfârşit,
că nici o umbră n-a mai rămas din harul meu,
nici focul, nici flacăra vieţii.
Trec prin grădina de trandafiri şi ce le pasă lor
dacă râd sau plâng?
În sclipirea ochilor mei,
în sufletul meu, m-a cuprins doliul,
care mă uită şi mă face uitat.
Iubesc, iubesc frumosul:
îi închin toate rătăcirile mele,
cele care m-au dus în ispită,
sau care le-am trăit singur.
Eşti nesăţios –
oare când voi putea spune
“sângele mi-a potolit setea”?
Râvnesc la clipa în care
voi cântari întreaga mea viaţă.
Mi-e dor de un suflet profund şi deschis,
care îl voi aprinde în calea mea
să-şi facă sălaş în vinele mele,
pe undeva, între fiinţă şi nefiinţă.
Ţi-e sete din nou –

(Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013 Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

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Love at the time of Swine Flu (fragment): by Constantin ROMAN

March 11th, 2013 · Comments Off on Love at the time of Swine Flu (fragment): by Constantin ROMAN · Books, OPINION, PEOPLE

‘You know, my dear boy, Catholicism is a very good religion to die in’.
She left all her millions to the Vatican, to consecrate her in a gigantic statue in the guise of Virgin Mary, no less, opposite a copy of a gigantic ‘Christ the Redeemer’, of Rio de Janeiro, only, this time, perched on an African mountain peak. In her lifetime she was no saint, to put it mildly, but she compensated by her good looks. You know? She was not unattractive and many a hopeful bachelor passed between her bed sheets, hoping for a share of the spoils. When they did not succeed to woe her, she offered them an honourable exit, which they could hardly refuse: she made suicide respectable. After she became a reformed rake, only weeks before she died, she was persuaded that she was a reincarnation of Mother Theresa, as she retired to a Convent of Dominican nuns. Her less charitable friends and relations, being frustrated of the spoils of any material windfall, spread the rumour that ‘she now tried to seduce God’….

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Poetry in Translation (CLXXII): Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797), Anglo-Irish Philosopher, Poet & Politician – “The Mirror”, “Oglinda”

March 11th, 2013 · 2 Comments · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Edmund Burke ,
(1729 – 1797), Irlanda

Mă uit în oglindă
Şi ce pot afla?
O faţă curioasă
Ce nu e a mea!

Căci sunt mult mai tânăr
Şi nici gras nu sînt
Ca cel din oglinda
La care mă uit.

O, Sfinte Sisoaie,
O rugă îţi fac
Găseste-mi oglinda
Mai veche de-un veac.

Căci cele de astăzi
Nu sunt cum au fost,
Fiind toate schimbate
Şi fără de rost!

Mai bine ignoră
Când riduri apar
Un lucru fiind sigur
Şi limpede, chiar.

Când faţa-i departe
De-a fi c-altă dată,
E timp ca oglinda
Să fie schimbată.

(Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013 Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

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