Marx

 

Toghchán /Election

 

 

cluas
an gcloistear mé?
iarsma beannaithe

an ear
is it listening?
holy relic

Gabriel Rosenstock

a lug
is't hearkenin tae?
haly relic

Scots: John McDonald

Alan Dent, Mowing the Lawn, (POETS OF THE PLANET)

 Alan Dent was born in Preston in 1951. He has lived in Lancaster, Hull, Rouen, Kent, Wales, Blackburn and now is once more in Preston. He has published the following collections of poetry: Bedtime Story, Antidotes to Optimism, Corker, Who, Town and Schrodinger’s Women. He has also published two volumes of translations from French: When The Metro is Free and Common Cause, the latter by Francis Combes. His work has appeared in Ambit, The Echo Room, The Wide Skirt, New Statesman, Prop, Tears In The Fence, Fire, Still and many other magazines. His plays include The Joy of Banking, Lap Dancing In The Gulag and The Lift. He is famous for his excoriating editorials in his magazines The Penniless Press and Mistress Quickly’s Bed; the former is now a web mag which incorporates the Northern Review of Books, founded by Dent in 2010. He has also published many reviews, mainly of contemporary poetry, and has been described by a leading contemporary poet as “a brilliant critic.” Under various pen-names he has published almost a hundred short stories.

 Lomadh an Fhéir

Má tá do thigh leagtha is do theaghlachsa marbh
leanaí is mamónna ina luí ar an ngaineamh
an domhan bun os cionn - faoi do bhun atá an spéir
níl ann ach an IDF ag lomadh an fhéir;
sceimhle na hoíche, éadóchas an lae
gan lámh chúnta in aice leat, inniu ná inné
nuair b'fhearr leat ná aon rud a bheith sínte sa chré
níl ann ach an IDF ag lomadh an fhéir;
ocras ar pháistí, déantar anraith as féar
gan uisce ar fáil dóibh ná fliuchadh a mbéil
an dorchadas forleathan ag breacadh an lae
níl ann ach an IDF ag lomadh an fhéir;
ina mbáisteach tá buamaí ag titim ón spéir
ar dheis is ar chlé níl ann ach piléir
an IDF ag méanfach is straois orthu go léir
níl ann ach na Síónaigh ag lomadh an fhéir
dílleachtaí ag caoineadh in ard a gcinn go géar
is cabhraíonn SAM leis na daoine atá ag lomadh an fhéir.

MOWING THE LAWN

   by Alan Dent

If your house is destroyed and your family lies dead
your babies and grandmothers left where they bled
if your world is upended and you’re lost and forlorn
it’s only the IDF mowing the lawn;
when your nights pass in terror your days in despair
if you reach for a hand and no one is there
when death’s your best friend and you wish you weren’t born
it’s only the IDF mowing the lawn;
when your children are starving you make soup from grass
not a sole drop of water for your dry mouth, alas,
when life is all darkness no promise of dawn
it’s only the IDF mowing the lawn;
when the bullets fly wildly and there’s nowhere to run
and the bombs fall at random as the goons have their fun
and the IDF laugh, sneer, lie back and yawn
it’s only the Zionists mowing the lawn;
and the righteous US as the poor orphans mourn
runs to help Zionists mowing the lawn.

MERMAID by Cao Shui (Poets of the Planet)

 Cao Shui（Chinese: 曹谁;pinyin: Cáo Shuí), also Shawn Cao (born in June 5, 1982), is a Chinese poet, novelist, screenwriter and translator. He is a representative figure of Chinese Contemporary Literature. He leads “the Greatpoeticism” movement. 

In his Manifesto of Greatpoem, he aims to integrate sacred and secular cultures, oriental and occidental cultures, ancient and modern cultures in Chinese literature. In 2008, he resigned from a newspaper and traveled around Tibet and Xinjiang, which is the center of Eurasia or the World in his view. His novels Secret of Heaven trilogy tells the whole developing history of human civilization. His most notable works includes Epic of Eurasia, the already mentioned trilogy and King Peacock (TV series). In his works, he extracts elements of various ancient human civilizations, from Babylon to the west to Judea, Egypt, Greece, to the east to Persia, India, China, and uses these elements to reconstruct a new Utopian human homeland, which always described as Eurasia, the Top of the Tower of Babel or Kunlun Mountains (Heaven Mountains). So far forty books of Cao Shui have been published, including ten poem collections, four essay collections, ten novels, twenty fairy tales, four translations and one hundred episodes TV series and films. He has won more than 50 literary awards worldwide, including the 1st Chinese Young Poet Award, the 4th Cao Yu Cup Drama Award, the Apollo Dionysus Award of the 8th Italian Rome International Academy of Contemporary Poetry and Art Award, the 12th Russian Golden Knight Award, and the Top Ten Public Figures of the 5th Chinese Poetry Spring Festival Gala, etc. His works have been translated into English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Portuguese, Danish, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Croatian, Slovenian, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Nepali, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Mongolian, etc. He has been invited to participate in the 30th Medellin International Poetry Festival, the 26th Havana International Poetry Festival, the 14th Kritya International Poetry Festival in India and the 4th Qinghai Lake International Poetry Festival. He is a member of China Writers Association, China Film Association and China Poetry Society. He is also chief editor of Great Poetry, deputy editor in chief of World Poetry, secretary general of Boao International Poetry Festival and vice president of the Silk Road International Poetry Festival. Currently he lives in Beijing, and works as a professional writer and screenwriter.

Maighdean Mhara

Siúlaim liom agus iasc leonta á iompar agam
Níl ach slí d'iasc amháin sa phota
Conas a leonadh an t-iasc?
Tá freagra uaim
Ní nochtfar an fhírinne gan scrúdú
Chuireas sléibhte díom, aigéin
agus na mílaoiseanna
Ghearr aibhneacha móra trí ghleannta doimhne
Oíche amháin, thiteas isteach i dtuile
Léim an t-iasc as an bpróca
Ní fhéadfainn ach stánadh air agus é ag imeacht
Deirtear gur duine lách mé
Deineadh maighdean mhara den iasc
agus cailíní aimsire lena taobh
gealach ag dul ar gcúl ina suí ar mo cheann
suas leis an maighdean mhara i dtreo na gealaí
titeann braon cumhra drúchta anuas
sínimse mo lámha amach chun breith air
i bhfaiteadh na súl, tuigimse an saol atá thart, an saol atá le teacht

Kieu Bich Hau (Poets of the Planet)

Member of Vietnam Writers’ Association. Born in Hung Yen Province, Vietnam. Ambassador of Ukiyoto Publisher of Canada to Vietnam. Founder and Head of Hanoi Female Translators. 9 National and International Awards in literature.
Published 25 books of prose, poetry, essay in Vietnam, Italy, Canada, Hungary, USA, Romania (Book titles: The Unknown, The Insidious Sister, Road of Love, Orphaned Waves, The Weird Dream, From Red River to Blue Danube, Two Moons …)
Her poems and short stories have been translated into many foreign languages (17): English, Italian, Korean, Russian, Marathi, Hindi, Romanian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, Nepali, Uzbek, French, German, Turkish, Chinese, Montenegrin.

 Cuthach

Tá sé ceart go leor, lig amach é
Béic orm
Scaoil amach an cuthach
atá ionat le fada
id' chroí, i d'aigne
i ngach cill díot
béic orm,
bain leas as na súile feargacha sin agat,
úsáid na lasracha lonracha
a dhónn mo chraiceann, m'fholt, m'anam
Cuthach an domhain seo
cuthach na harrainge is an éadóchais
mothúcháin a cuireadh faoi chois
ó bheith ag iompar ár bpeacaí dúchais  . . .

Agus is saor atá tú
Agus béarfad barróg ort lem' lámha creathacha
Agus imeoidh an uile dheoir
Ina sruth isteach sa Danóib Ghorm,

isteach san Abhainn Dhearg,
iontu go léir
Agus leáfaimid san abhainn sin
Ag rith isteach sa chruinne
de shíor
Is deoir ollmhór sinn
scaipthe ar fud na cruinne.

LA COLÈRE

C’est bon, laisse-la sortir
Crie-moi dessus
Libère la rage aveugle
qui s’est accumulée depuis longtemps
dans ton coeur, ton esprit
chacune de tes cellules
Simplement crie-moi dessus
use de tes yeux en colère,
Utilise le feu,
et la lumière qui brûle
ma peau, mes cheveux, mon âme
La colère de cette terre
la colère de la douleur et du désespoir
des sentiments refoulés
de tant porter les péchés d’être un humain…
Et tu seras libre
Et je te serrerai dans mes bras tremblants
Et toutes les larmes couleront
dans le courant du Danube Bleu,
dans la rivière Rouge,
dans tout
Et nous nous fondrons dans cette rivière
Restant pour toujours
à couler dans l’univers
Nous sommes une larme géante
dispersée
dans l’univers.

Kieu Bich Hau
La colère, traduction de Francis Combes

Alexis Bernaut (Poets of the Planet)

 LE CHIEN

Le chien aboie à l’écho de la montagne

qu’il lui rende son aboiement – 

Tu sais, le chien

moi aussi j’ai aboyé

à mes rêves, à mes amis, mes quatre murs

et même mes dieux, si j’en avais eu

je leur aurais aboyé dessus –


J’ai aboyé à la vie

espérant qu’elle me rendrait

l’écho de mon premier cri

J’ai aboyé

moi aussi

Alexis Bernaut

GADHAR

Tá an gadhar ag tafann ar mhacalla an tsléibhe:
"Tabhair mo thafann ar ais dom"

An bhfuil a fhios agat, a ghadhair,
Tá tafann déanta agamsa, leis,
tafann ar mo chuid taibhreamh, ar mo chairde, ar na fallaí
na déithe féin, dá mbeadh a leithéid agam
bheinn tar éis tafann orthu.

Tá tafann déanta agam ar feadh mo shaoil
ag súil go bhfaighinn ar ais
macalla óm' chéad bhéic

Sea, tá tafann déanta
agamsa leis.