Poem
Brian Turner
Mohammed Trains for the Beijing Olympics, 2008
MOHAMMED TRAINT VOOR DE OLYMPISCHE SPELEN VAN BEIJING, 2008
In de gewichtsklasse tot 69 kilobezit de Bulgaar Bojevski het
wereldrecord. Hij is niet te verslaan.
Althans niet door Sawara Mohammed.
Mohammed, 26 jaar, heeft langer cement geschept
dan hij zelf wil weten. In Arbil,
In Koerdisch Noord-Irak, spant hij al zijn spieren
om de halter te heffen met zijn zware platen,
rond als de wielen van strijdwagens – dan bezwijken zijn spieren
en stuiteren de schijven vóór hem in het stof. Nee,
hij zal de Bulgaar niet kloppen.
Het probleem ligt in het gewichtheffen op afstand.
Het is geen kwestie van ijzer, of van wil,
Bojevksi’s records, in Beijing, zullen
onopgemerkt blijven, omdat Mohammed nu traint
om de stad Arbil te heffen, met haar bewoners;
zijn quadriceps en onderrugspieren
spannen zich, zijn spieren trillen om
de Eufraat en de Tigris te heffen, de bergen
in het noorden, de woestijnen in het westen, Basra,
Karbale, Ramadi, Tikrit, Mosul –
drie decennia oorlog en het onafgebroken lijden
van miljoenen – dat is wat Sawara heft,
en hoe hij ook zijn best doet, het zal hem volkomen
mislukken, en daarom zal het volk van hem houden.
© Vertaling: 2009, Jabik Veenbaas
Mohammed Trains for the Beijing Olympics, 2008
In the 69-kilogram-weight class,the Bulgarian, Boevski, is the world-
record holder. He cannot be beaten.
At least, not by Sawara Mohammed.
Mohammed, at 26, has shoveled cement
longer than he cares to remember. In Arbil,
in Kurdish northern Iraq, he strains hard
to lift the barbell with its heavy plates,
round as the wheels of chariots—then, muscles give
and the wheels bounce in dust before him. No,
he cannot defeat the Bulgarian.
The problem is in lifting weight over distance.
It isn’t a matter of iron, or of will.
Boevski’s records, in Beijing, will go
unnoticed, because Mohammed is training now
to lift the city of Arbil, with its people;
his quadriceps and posterior chain
straining, the muscles tremoring to lift
the Euphrates and Tigris both, mountains
of the north, deserts of the west, Basra,
Karbala, Ramadi, Tikrit, Mosul—
three decades of war and the constant suffering
of millions—this is what Sawara lifts,
and no matter what effort he makes, he will fail
completely, and the people will love him for it.
© 2009, Brian Turner
From: Talk the Guns
Publisher: Alice James Books, Farmington, ME
From: Talk the Guns
Publisher: Alice James Books, Farmington, ME
Poems
Poems of Brian Turner
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Mohammed Trains for the Beijing Olympics, 2008
In the 69-kilogram-weight class,the Bulgarian, Boevski, is the world-
record holder. He cannot be beaten.
At least, not by Sawara Mohammed.
Mohammed, at 26, has shoveled cement
longer than he cares to remember. In Arbil,
in Kurdish northern Iraq, he strains hard
to lift the barbell with its heavy plates,
round as the wheels of chariots—then, muscles give
and the wheels bounce in dust before him. No,
he cannot defeat the Bulgarian.
The problem is in lifting weight over distance.
It isn’t a matter of iron, or of will.
Boevski’s records, in Beijing, will go
unnoticed, because Mohammed is training now
to lift the city of Arbil, with its people;
his quadriceps and posterior chain
straining, the muscles tremoring to lift
the Euphrates and Tigris both, mountains
of the north, deserts of the west, Basra,
Karbala, Ramadi, Tikrit, Mosul—
three decades of war and the constant suffering
of millions—this is what Sawara lifts,
and no matter what effort he makes, he will fail
completely, and the people will love him for it.
From: Talk the Guns
Mohammed Trains for the Beijing Olympics, 2008
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