Gedicht

Alemu Tebeje

Side by side

English

Originele taal

O, WESTERN DEMOCRACY!

I praise you,

who takes us to Gleneagles

in a warm coach,

so we can stage our protest

against the butcher of Ethiopia.

You drop us by an empty field

two miles from the hotel,

so even though the Butcher cannot hear,

we are free to hurl our slogans

into the wind:

“Political plurality!” we shout

“Human Rights!” we cry

The sun is low and it is rather cold.

Policemen stamp their boots.

Some crows hear what we say

and look surprised, they undertake

to carry messages into your conference

where every beak laps up

the sweetness of your words,

jabbing at your shortbread promises.

So in the dark I praise you,

for your glistening motorways

of free expression,

your empty fields and willing crows,

for the dry biscuits you feed to monsters.

© Translation: 2020, Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje
From: Songs We Learn From Trees
Publisher: Carcanet Classics, Manchester, 2020

ኦ! ምዕራባዊ ዴሞክራሲ!

አመሰገንኳችሁ፣

ወደ ግሊኔግልስ፣ ለመሄድ ታድለን፣

በምቹው አውቶቡስ፣ እየተንፈላሰስን፣

በአደባባይ ሊታይ፣ ግልጽ ተቃውሞ፣

የኢትዮጵያን አራጅ፣ ድምፃችን አጋልጦ።

ፈቃድ ሰጣችሁን ከአንድ ሰፊ ማሣ፣ ከአንድ ትልቅ ባዶ፣

ከሆቴል ከራቀ፣ ሁለት ማይል ሄዶ፣

ስለዚህ! ... ምንም ከአራጁ፣ ባይደርስ ከጆሮው፣

መፈክራችንን አየር ላይ ልንተኩስ፣ የተሰጠን መብት

ዕፁብ ነው፣ ድንቅ ነው፣

እውነተኛ መድበለ ፓርቲ እንፈልጋለን! በማለት የጮኽነው፣

እኛም ሰው ነንና፣ ሰብአዊ መብት! ብለን ያለቀስነው፣

ጸሀይ ዘቅዝቃላች፣ ቀኑ ይብስ በርዱዋል፣

ፖሊስም በጫማው፣ ምድሩን ያዳምጣል፣

አንዳንድ ቁራዎችም፣ ስንጮህ እየሰሙ፣

ያንዣብቡ ነበር፣ እየተገረሙ፣

ለእናንተ ጉባኤ፣ መልዕክት ሊያደርሱ፣

እያንዳንዱ አንደበት፣ ለዲስኩር ተስሎ

የቃላችሁ ጥፍጠት፣ ቃላትን አቃጥሎ፣

ከሚጋግርበት፣ ሙልሙል ዳቦ አብስሎ።

ስለዚህ! ጨለማ ውስጥ ሆኜ አመሰገንኳችሁ፣

ለድንቅ ጎዳና፣ ድንቅ መንገዶቻችሁ፣

ሃሳብ ለማስገለፅ፣ ክቡር መብታችሁ፣

ጭር ላሉት ማሳዎች፣ በራሪ ቁራችሁ፣

የጭራቅ ስብስብ ከርስ ልትሞሉ፣ ላዘጋጃችሁት ደረቅ

ብስኩታችሁ።

Alemu Tebeje

(Ethiopië, )

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