Poetry International Poetry International
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?

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
Close

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?

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?
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère