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2019-10-31

An Draíodóir

Tharraing an draíodóir
Coinín as a hata
Agus colm as a sheaicéad.
Nocht oráiste ina lámh chlé
Agus an fáinne a bhí ar iarraidh faoi cheilt istigh ann.

Dhún a shúile is dúirt rud éigin faoi rún,
An maide draíochta á bhagairt aige,
Pé rud a iarradh air
Bhí sé aige ina dhorn dúnta.
Níor ghá dhó ach méar a leagan
Ar phíosaí is thánadar le chéile arís
Slán.
Ceann amháin ina iliomad píosaí
Dhá cheann ina iliomad píosaí
Scata in aon phíosa amháin.
An rud ba léir díreach soicind ó shin
As radharc ar fad.

Ina dhiaidh sin, gháir an draíodóir os íseal

Labhair leaid amháin
Ón lucht féachana,
‘A dhraíodóir’, ar sé
‘Scanraíonn do dhraíocht mé!
Dá n-iompófá i m’fhéileacán mé
Is dá n-eitleoinnse liom?’

Lean an draíodóir air ag gáire.
Ansin leath a dhá lámh amach mar sciatháin
Is d’eitil
Caol díreach trí shúile an bhuachalla.

Kamal Vora

2019-10-30

Bainne

A pháistín fionn
Ag gol go faíoch ar uair mharbh na hoíche,
Ná caoin

An bhó dhubh
Atá ceangailte den phionna
Sa bhóitheach dorcha

Is cinnte go dtálfaidh
Lán a hútha de bhainne
Nuair a bhreacfaidh an lá

Uair mharbh na hoíche
Ní go deo ná choíche í
Ná caoin
A pháistín fionn


Milk

Little child
Crying aloud in the dead of night,
Do not cry

The black cow
Tied to the peg
In the dark shed

Will surely yield
Udders-ful of milk
When the dawn breaks

The dead of night
Is not for ever and ever
Do not cry
Little child


Dán ón India le HS Shiva Prakash

(In Other Words, Poetrywala, 2014)

2019-10-29

‘Nuair a Chailltear an Fhís…’

Nuair a chailltear in áit an mhargaidh an Fhís,
Is an Solas faon,
Do shúile agat á n-ardú is gan teacht ar a aghaidh arís,
Do chroí i bhfad uaidh i gcéin,

Tuig gurb é seo do chogadhsa; san uair uaigneach seo duit ar fán
Na Bóithre ab eol dó síos;
Cé nach dtagann sé níos mó istoíche, beidh sé ar a ghlúine led’ thaobh
Chun sólás a thabhairt duit, is roinnfidh leat an Fhís.

May Wedderburn Cannan

2019-10-28

Aranyāni: Spiorad na Foraoise

A Ainnir na Foraoise! A Ainnir na Foraoise!
       Téann tú as radharc san imigéin uainn,
Cén fáth nach dtabharfá cuairt ar an sráidbhaile?
       Ní hé go scanraíonn daoine thú!

Nuair a fhreagraíonn an dreoilín teaspaigh
       Do ghéimneach na mbó i gcéin,
Mar a bheadh do chling bhinn na gclog,
       Bíonn Ainnir na Foraoise i mbun scléipe.

Uaireanta, faightear spléachadh uirthi, ba ar iníor
       Mheasfá, nó tigh ar fhíor na spéire,
Agus cloistear Ainnir na Foraoise um thráthnóna
       Mar a bheadh vaigíní ag imeacht tamall fada uait.

Guth an duine ag glaoch ar a chuid beithíoch a guth,
       Nó torann crainn á leagan.
Fan san fhoraois tráthnóna éigin
       Agus cloisfidh tú í mar éamh ón gcnoc.

Ní baol dúinn í Ainnir na Foraoise
       Ní baol d’éinne í ach dá namhaid.
Itheann sí torthaí milse na coille
       Is glacann scíth nuair is áil léi é.

Tá Ainnir na Foraoise molta anois agam,
       Tá boladh an bhalsaim uaithi, is í atá cumhra,
Cothaithe go maith atá sí cé nach ndéanann an talamh a shaothrú,
       Sí máthair an uile ní atá fiáin í.
 

2019-10-27

Tusa É Sin

D’iarr Uddālaka ar a mhac toradh bainiain a fháil dó.
          ‘Seo dhuit é, a Thiarna!’ arsa Śvetaketu.
          ‘Bris é,’ arsa Uddālaka.
          ‘Tá sé briste agam, a Thiarna!’
          ‘Cad is léir duit ann?’
          ‘Síolta beaga, a Thiarna!’
          ‘Bris ceann acu, a mhic!’
          ‘Tá sé briste, a Thiarna!’
          ‘Cad is léir duit ann?’
          ‘Faic, a Thiarna!’ arsa Śvetaketu.
Arsa Uddālaka: ‘A mhic! D’fhás an bainian mór seo
As síol chomh beag sin
Nach léir duit é.
Creid uaimse an méid seo, a mhic!
          Síol atá sa bheith; gach aon ní eile
          Eisean á chur féin in iúl.
          Eisean an fhírinne. Eisean an Féin.
          A Śvetaketu! Tusa é sin!’

2019-10-26

How She Went to Ireland

Éire agus Sasana trí shúile na nOsréalaithe
Ireland and England (and elsewhere) as seen by the Surrealists.

How She Went to Ireland

Dora’s gone to Ireland
    Through the sleet and snow;
Promptly she has gone there
    In a ship, although
Why she’s gone to Ireland
    Dora does not know.

That was where, yea, Ireland,
    Dora wished to be:
When she felt, in lone times,
    Shoots of misery,
Often there, in Ireland,
    Dora wished to be.

Hence she’s gone to Ireland,
    Since she meant to go,
Through the drift and darkness
    Onward labouring, though
That she’s gone to Ireland
    Dora does not know.

Thomas Hardy   


Dóirín ag Triall ar Éirinn

Tá Dóirín ag triall ar Éirinn
  Trí shneachta is flichshneachta liath;
Chuaigh sí ann de thapaigean
   Ar bord loinge a bhí,
Cad a thug go hÉirinn í?
     Níl a fhios ag Dóirín.  

Sin é an áit, sea, Éire,
   a theastaigh óna croí:
Dá mbuailfeadh uaigneas Dóirín
   is í in ísle brí,
Siar siar go hÉirinn
     Is thiar a bhí a croí.

Thiar atá sí in Éirinn
   Mar a theastaigh ón gcéad lá,
Tríd an ráth is an dorchadas
    Ar aghaidh is ar aghaidh go brách
A triall arís ar Éirinn
     Is ní heol di cén fáth.


  

2019-10-25

Graifítí an Lae - Saul Newman

Go bunúsach, critíc eiticiúil ar údarás is ea ainrialachas - dualgas eiticiúil nach mór chun gach saghas ceannais a cheistiú agus cur ina choinne.


From Bakunin to Lacan ; Anti-Authoritarianism and the Dislocation of Power (2001) le Saul Newman

2019-10-24

Sáimhe

Konoshima Okoku
Ag ól tae, ag ithe ríse,
Ag caitheamh an tsaoil is an saol ár gcaitheamh;
Breathnaím síos ar an sruthán, breathnaím in airde
ar na beanna,
Ar mo sháimhín suilt gan amhras.


 Nan-ch'üan P'u-yüan (南泉普願 Nansen Fugan), Máistir Cha'n

Dán do Nick Drake

Ó Atlas Obscura

Nick Drake (19 Meitheamh 1948 -  25 Samhain 1974)

Ar chúl do leac uaighe
na focail seo -
is deacair iad a léamh:
'Éirímíd anois is táimid gach áit.'

Ach cá bhfuil tú go díreach?
An rabhais riamh anseo?
An raibh éinne againn?
Na focail sin -
an-deacair le léamh:
'Éirímid anois is táimid gach áit.'
                                   

Nick Drake (19 June 1948 - 25 November 1974)

On the back of your headstone
these words -
hard to read:
'Now we rise and we are everywhere.'

But where are you now?
Were you ever here?
Was any of us ever here?
Those words -
so hard to read:
'Now we rise and we are everywhere'.

2019-10-23

Spásaire Salamanca

tá sé ann
ón dara haois déag i leith -
spásaire Salamanca

2019-10-22

deora aingil

mí-úsáid leanaí…
deora aingil
á reo
child abuse…
the tears of an angel
freeze
bairn abuiss…
tears o the aungels
jeel

Leagan Béarla na hAlban: John McDonald
子の虐待…
天使のなみだ
凍りたり

Leagan seapáiníse: mariko sumikura

2019-10-21

Haiku le Issa ón mbliain 1814

Ohara Koson
Is minic macalla ón am atá thart - braistint, blas, boladh, focal - sa haiku a tharlaíonn san am i láthair. Sampla foirfe den frisson sin atá sa haiku breá seo:
cumhracht na mbláthanna plumaí -
meathchuimhne agam
ar theach mo mhamó

.梅がかや生覚なるうばが家


ume ga ka ya namaoboe naru uba ga ie

ÍOMHAR


Is ciúin mar ghabhann an abhainn anseo in Íomhar,
Is cam atá an luachair ghlas faoi uisce,
Mar ghruaig bháite, scaoilte ina slaoda
lastall den chaise is lastall d'arraing.
Ó, dá rithfeadh ionamsa an abhainn go séimh,
An chora shuaite fágtha aici ina déidh
Is mo ghlúine a chamadh 'nós na luachra ciúine
Go nglacfainn tamall scíthe, tamall suain.


Dán le Molly Drake, máthair an amhránaí Nick Drake.

2019-10-20

FÉINBHAINISTIÚ

Tar éis scór éigin bliain a chaitheamh ag plé le bainistíocht
Ní thuigim fós conas bainistiú a dhéanamh orm féin.
Táim go maith i mbun rud a roinnt ina dhá nó ina thrí chuid,
go maith, leis, maidir le tosaíochtaí a leagan síos,
tallann a aimsiú agus a earcú.
 

Daoine a bhainistiú is ea cúrsaí a bhainistiú,
ach má dhírítear an fócas ormsa,
báitear gach aon ní in aigéan na héiginnteachta.


Is iad na nithe beaga go minic
a fhágann gach aon rud ina phraiseach.
D'fhéadfadh an rud sárluachmhar iompú ina dhusta laistigh de shoicind.

Tú féin a bhainistiú
agus daoine eile a bhainistiú
is dhá rud éagsúla iad.

B'fhéidir go bhfuil bainisteoir áit éigin domsa,
A deirim liom féin.
B'fhéidir nach nochtar i gceart cé sinn féin
go ndéantar bainistiú orainn.




(Na Duck Yard Lyricists a dhein an leagan Béarla: Meifu Wang, Michael Soper, Peter Micic & Johan Ramaekers)

Rugadh Ding Bai sa bhliain 1973 agus tá cónaí air in Shanghai. File, díolamóir agus peannaire.

2019-10-19

Madra Strae

Chögyam, níl ann ach madra strae
Ar fán timpeall na cruinne,
San aigéan, mám sneachta i measc na mbeann.
Ar aghaidh leis ina mhadra strae
Gan aon chuimhneamh aige ar an gcéad bhéile eile.
Beidh sé mór leis na héin is leis na seacáil
Is le hainmhí fiáin ar bith.

 Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

2019-10-18

Isaak Levitan

Isaak Levitan
Bóthar Vladimirka -
    cén dóchas atá ann
        don Ghiúdach Fáin?
Vladimirka Road -
    what hope is there
        for the Wandering Jew?
ウラジミールカ道
    彷徨うユダヤ人に
        いかなる夢ありや
Leagan Seapáinise:Mariko Sumikura

2019-10-17

Trolls turned to stone, Vik, Iceland

Ron Rosenstock
Vík í Mýrdal…
when will they laugh again?
petrified trolls
Vík í Mýrdal…
cathain a gháirfidh siad arís?
troill ina staic
Vik i Myrdal…
whan wull they lauch agane?
fair fleggit trolls

Leagan Béarla na hAlban: John McDonald

2019-10-16

scréachóga/jays (Bruno Liljefors)


τι να συνέβη;
τι είναι; κάτι
θα τρόμαξε τις κίσσες

Sarah Thilykou

2019-10-15

Haiku le Aioigaki Kajin (相生垣瓜人)

céadchosach ag saothrú an bháis
ansin faigheann na cosa aige
bás

蜈蚣死す数多の足も次いで死す

2019-10-14

Shinohara Ontei

os cionn na sailchuach…
leoithne bhog
ag gabháil thar bráid

2019-10-13

Franz von Stuck

Franz von Stuck
seachain!
d'iompódh a shúile an croí ina luaithreach -
cosantóir parthais
beware!
his gaze can turn the heart to ashes -
guardian of paradise

leuk oot!
yon gove'll turn the hert tae aise -
gairdian o paradise


Leagan Béarla na hAlban: John McDonald
気をつけて!
彼のまなざし心を灰にするの
楽園の衛視

Leagan Seapáinise: mariko sumikura

2019-10-12

Graifítí an Lae - Masanobu Fukuoka

An tslí a maireann ainmhithe sna trópaicí, ag dul amach ar maidin agus um thráthnóna féachaint an bhfuil greim le hithe ann, agus siesta fada a ghlacadh san iarnóin, caithfidh gur breá ar fad an saol é. D'fhéadfadh saol simplí mar sin a bheith ag daoine dá n-oibreoidis díreach chun riachtanais laethúla a sholáthar.

Masanobu Fukuoka 

2019-10-11

Míorúilt


Míorúilt

Ba mhór an mhíorúilt í.
Bhís le clos go soiléir
Im choiscéimeanna
Bhís le feiscint
I m'anáil

Gabriel Rosenstock


ΘΑΥΜΑ

'Ηταν ένα μεγάλο θαύμα
Ακούστηκες καθαρά
στα βήματά μου
'Ησουν ορατός
στην αναπνοή μου

Leagan Gréigise le Sarah Thilykou

2019-10-10

THÁINIG AN GHRIAN


Tháinig an ghrian ar an Satharn chugainn
Thuas sa spéir 'bhí gorm-ghlé
Tháinig an ghrian, chuir a hanáil fúinn
Níor thuigeamar deas thar chlé
Tháinig an ghrian le haighthe is daoine
Is ní rabhadar mór le rá
Na daoine sin uilig, na háiteanna, is cuimhin liom
Bhíodar rómhaith ar shlí dar leo fhéin
Dar leo fhéin
Dar leo fhéin
Tiocfaidh an ghrian, ní thiocfaidh inniu mo léan.

Smaoinigh ar scéalta le réasún is ciall
'Thimpeallaíonn do cheann
Is smaoinigh ar dhaoine, ina séasúr 's a dtriall
Ag filleadh 's ag filleadh, níor staon
ó níor staon
ó níor staon
ach d'imigh an ghrian agus tháinig an braon

SATURDAY SUN

Saturday sun came early one morning
In a sky so clear and blue
Saturday sun came without warning
So no-one knew what to do

Saturday sun brought people and faces
That didn't seem much in their day
But when I remembered those people and places
They were really too good in their way
In their way
In their way
Saturday sun won't come and see me today
Think about stories with reason and rhyme
Circling through your brain

And think about people in their season and time
Returning again and again
And again
And again
but Saturday sun has turned to Sunday's rain


  
  

2019-10-09

NÁ SPÉARTHA THUAIDH

Níor bhraitheas riamh gintlíocht mhire mar seo
Ní fhaca an ré, ná an sáile ná a bhrí
Níor bhraitheas riamh aon mhothú im' dhearna ná im' lámh
Ná leoithní a bhrath ansin thuas i mbarr crainn
Ach taoise ann
Soilsigh na spéartha thuaidh

Ag fanacht atáimse le fada
Séidte atáim ag an stoirm
Is fada an lá mé ar seachrán
Trí na daoine a casadh orm
Ó, dá bhféadfá is d'fhéadfá -
Dírigh m'aigne nua.

An mbeadh grá agat dom 's mé saibhir
Nó do m'éirim thabharfá grá?
An mbeadh grá agat dom sa gheimhreadh
An mbeadh grá agat dom go bás
Ó, dá bhféadfá is d'fhéadfá -
Tar, séid do throimpéad fuar

Níor bhraitheas riamh gintlíocht mhire mar seo
Ní fhaca an ré, ná an sáile ná a bhrí
Níor bhraitheas riamh aon mhothú im' dhearna ná im' lámh
Ná leoithní a bhrath ansin thuas i mbarr crainn
Ach taoise ann
Soilsigh na spéartha thuaidh

NORTHERN SKY

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

  
  
  

2019-10-08

EITLÍONN JEREMY

Eitlíonn Jeremy
Grian ag dul faoi
Tá sé ag súil
Le radharc ar a thriall
Soir leis ón gcathair
Is síos leis san uaimh
Sa tóir ar mháistir
Nó daor atá uaidh.

Tamall ó Londain
Jacomo saor
Iompraíonn a bhuairt
An mhuir 'na caor
Sa tóir ar a bheatha
Sa tóir ar an bhfód
Sa tóir ar an eachtra
Nár insíodh fós

Tamall ó chomhrá
Gan éinne 'r fáil,
Níor mhaith leo a bheith
'Na n-aonaráin
Tamall ag teastáil
Chun éalú ar fad
Tamall lán iontais
Is tamall i ngad

Eitlíonn Jeremy
Grian ag dul faoi
Tá sé ag súil
Le radharc ar a thriall
Soir leis ón gcathair
Is síos leis san uaimh
Sa tóir ar mháistir
Nó daor atá uaidh.


THREE HOURS

Three hours from London
Jacomo's free
Taking his woes
Down to the sea
In search of a lifetime
To tell when he's home
In search of a story
That's never been known

Three hours from sundown
Jeremy flies
Hoping to keep
The sun from his eyes
East from the city
And down to the cave
In search of a master
In search of a slave

Three hours from London
Jacomo's free
Taking his woes
Down to the sea
In search of a lifetime
To tell when he's home
In search of a story
That's never been known

Three hours from speaking
Everyone's flown
Not wanting to be
Seen on their own

Three hours is needed
To leave from them all
Three hours to wonder
And three hours to fall

Three hours from sundown
Jeremy flies
Hoping to keep the sun from his eyes
East from the city
And down to the cave
In search of a master
In search of a slave

  

2019-10-07

D'INIS AN tAM DOM

D'inis an t-am dom
Gur tusa an tseoid
Seoid agus buairt
D'aigne an bhróin

Is d'inis an t-am dom
Gan cuardach níos mó
Aimseoidh ár n-aigéan
An trá fá dheoidh

Is fágfad na bealaí a dheineann díom féin
An neach sin nach maith leis é fhéin
Bealaí a fhágaint a dtugaim grá
Do nithe nach dtuilleann mo ghrá

D'inis an t-am dom
Gur gheal tú mar lá
Gan aon lorg coise
Gan dealg, id' bhláth

Insíonn do dheora
A leithéid de scéal
Níl leigheas ar do bhuaireamh
I gcaint ó do bhéal

Inseoidh an t-am duit
Bheith taobh liom, a stór
I dtreo 's nach féidir
Aon ní 'cheilt orm níos mó

Is tréig na bealaí a dheineann díot féin
An neach sin nach maith léi í féin
Bealaí a thréigean a dtugann tú grá
Do nithe nach dtuilleann do ghrá

D'inis an t-am dom
Gur tusa an tseoid
Seoid agus buairt
D'aigne an bhróin

Agus d'inis an t-am dom
Gan cuardach níos mó
Aimseoidh ár n-aigéan
An trá fá dheoidh

TIME HAS TOLD ME

Time has told me
You're a rare, rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind


And time has told me
Not to ask for more
Someday our ocean
Will find its shore
 

So I'll leave the ways that are making me be
What I really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making me love
What I really don't want to love
 

Time has told me
You came with the dawn
A soul with no footprint
A rose with no thorn
 

Your tears they tell me
There's really no way
Of ending your troubles
With things you can say
 

And time will tell you
To stay by my side
To keep on trying
'Til there's no more to hide
 

So leave the ways that are making you be
What you really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making you love
What you really don't want to love
 

Time has told me
You're a rare, rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind
 

And time has told me
Not to ask for more
So someday our ocean
Will find its shore

2019-10-06

Teacht is Imeacht

Aon uair dó gabháil
ó Kosal go Magadh
ar an slí ar ais
ó Mhagadh go Kosal
cuirtear an cheist chéanna air -
an ag dul
ó Mhagadh go Kosal atá tú,
nó ag teacht
ó Kosal ar do shlí chuig Magadh?
Deineann sé iarracht
an cheist a sheachaint, á rá,
Cén difríocht a dhéanfadh sé?

Ach bíonn ceisteanna áirithe ann
nach féidir a sheachaint -
is é sin má théitear
chomh minic sin
trí Kosal ar do shlí chuig Magadh,
trí Mhagadh ar do shlí chuig Kosal

An cheist is tábhachtaí
ná seo -
cá bhfuil do thriall?

Agus ansin an cheist -
cé atá a lorg agat
in Kosal agus Magadh?

Is ansin -
Kosal i dtosach
nó Magadh?
Is é firinne an scéil
nach bhfuil a fhios ag éinne.
Cén fáth a dtéann sé
ó Mhagadh go Kosal,
ó Kosal go Magadh,
arís is arís eile?

Cén fáth
na radhairc chéanna
arís is arís eile?
Cén fáth a mbéiceann sé
Up Kosal!
agus é ag gabháil trí Mhagadh
agus Up Magadh!
agus é ag gabháil trí Kosal?
ar úrdhúnta briste Kosal
cén fáth bratacha gioblacha Mhagadh
a ardú?

Nuair nach dtagann freagra
ó éinne,
tosaíonn sé féin ar nós cách
ar bhreith ar dhaoine is iad
ag dul thar bráid is ag fiafraí díobh -

An ar do bhealach
chuig Magadh trí Kosal atá tú,
nó ar do bhealach
chuig Kosal trí Mhagadh?

Shrikant Verma 

COMING AND GOING

Whenever he went
from Kosal to Magadh,
on the way back
from Magadh to Kosal
everyone asked him the same thing—

are you going
from Magadh to Kosal,
or are you coming
from Kosal to Magadh?

He tried to evade the question
by saying,
What difference will it make?

But some questions
can’t be evaded—
especially when we pass
so often
through Kosal on our way to Magadh,
through Magadh on our way to Kosal.

The most important question
is this—
Where are you going?

Then the question—
Who are you looking for
in Kosal and Magadh?

And then—
Will Kosal come first
or Magadh?
The fact is
that no one knows.
Why does he go
from Magadh to Kosal,
from Kosal to Magadh,
over and over again?

Why does he repeat
the same scenes
over and over again?

Why does he shout
slogans for Kosal
while passing through Magadh,
against Magadh
while passing through Kosal?

On the broken bastions of Kosal,
why does he raise
the tattered flags of Magadh?

When there’s no answer
from anywhere,
he too joins the ranks
of those who catch hold
of every passer-by and ask—

Are you on your way
to Magadh through Kosal,
or are you on your way
to Kosal through Magadh?

(Translated from the original Hindi by Vinay Dharwadker.)






2019-10-05

Franz von Stuck

Franz von Stuck
á shá féin aníos
tríd an ithir bhog -
an chéad phlúirín sneachta
pushing its way
up through soft earth -
the first snowdrop
raxin oop
throuch the saft yirth -
the furst snawdrap

Leagan Béarla na hAlban: John McDonald
柔き地を
分けてすすむと―
初雪が

Leagan Seapáinise: Mariko Sumikura

2019-10-04

Walk with Gandhi: Come along to the launch, seriously!

This is an invitation to come along to the launch of Walk with Gandhi: Bóthar na Saoirse, especially if you’ve never been to a book launch before.

What happens at a book launch? Are there speeches and platitudes? Do people sip wine politely and then ask for a signed copy of the book? And then go home and not even read the book? That would be a waste of time.

This launch is going to be different because it celebrates someone who is still a glowing torch for mankind – and he found the light within, within himself, and without – in the incredible people and panorama of his own country, India. And the launch is rounded off with a ticketed event of classical Indian music and traditional Irish music. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening?

           Happy Anniversary?

It’s the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba, both born in 1869. I mention Kasturba not only as the Mahatma’s fellow campaigner for human rights and political emancipation, often imprisoned for her beliefs, but also because Gandhi was greatly influenced by the Suffragette Movement – until the suffragettes departed from passive resistance. Smashing Mr Asquith’s windows was not part of the overall Gandhian vision!
It is sometimes suggested that Gandhi had a precursor in our own Daniel O’Connell (1775- 1847), the Liberator. Both addressed ‘monster meetings’ in as peaceful a manner as possible; both were lionised by the masses, had a background in law and familiarized themselves with London, the seat of Empire. But there the comparison ends. It is hard to imagine Gandhi fighting a duel, for instance, and the physical appetites of both (or their responses to them) were entirely different!

O’Connell turned his back on the world of his aunt, Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, creator of the Lament, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire which Peter Levi, former Professor of Poetry at Oxford, described thus: ‘I think it is the greatest poem written in these islands in the whole eighteenth century.’ One could go further than ‘these islands’ and call it a treasure of world literature.

                       Free of British Culture

     O’Connell said of Irish, ‘I am sufficiently utilitarian not to regret its gradual abandonment.’ Gandhi wouldn’t dream of such cultural treason. In fact, like our own Gaelic Leaguers, contemporaries of his, he argued for the de-anglicisation of India: ‘he had always said that real independence for India was not just to become free from British rule. It was also to become free of British culture.” (Vedic Ecology: Practical Wisdom for Surviving the 21st Century, by Ranchor Prime, Mandala 2002).

                       Gandhi’s Vision

Let’s return to Gandhi’s vision. He saw passive resistance as a tactic that stretched back to the trial of Socrates in ancient Athens. The thread of passive resistance weaves its wondrous way from ancient Greece, all the way up to Thoreau, Ruskin and Tolstoy and continues after Gandhi’s day, manifesting in the thoughts and deeds of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland, Solidarnosc . . . Hong Kong dissidents seemed to be Gandhian in their attitudes before violence took over. Or are all these connections mere fanciful myth making?

                   Walk with Gandhi

Could an author or illustrator expect a better review than the one which appeared in The Wire (here)? I was relieved that the book was so well received in Gandhi’s homeland.
Is Gandhi relevant today? One word defined his life-long mission, satyagraha, which could be nicely translated into Irish as ‘fórsa na fírinne’, or truth-force, something which doesn’t seem to be the driving force behind the leaders on either side of our brine-washed (not yet fully brain-washed) island.
Gandhi is relevant today in his championing of peaceful, simple lifestyles, egalitarian economics, pluralism, tolerance, respect for animals, grassroots democracy, mindfulness, and civil disobedience, not just in his words – his writing come to 90 volumes – but in his extraordinary deeds, political theatre at its most imaginative, tactical level.
I originally wrote Walk with Gandhi: Bóthar na Saoirse for young adults and was tempted to use a martial arts analogy to explain Gandhi’s tactics, namely deflecting the force of the British Empire back on itself. But there’s no need for that. Gandhi was spiritually and culturally steeped in ahimsa, non-violence.

The scripture which most influenced his thinking – and feeling – was the Bhagavad Gita, which he called his “mother”, a scripture which has a battlefield as backdrop.
Kashmir is one of the most militarised zones on earth. It is home to Masood Hussain whose spectacular watercolours illustrate Walk with Gandhi: Bóthar na Saoirse, published by Gandhi 150 Ireland. He has been shut off from the outside world since the fifth of August. Kashmir is in lockdown. I’ll be thinking of him when we launch our book in Liberty Hall, 6.30 pm, this coming Sunday evening, an event which kicks off the annual IMRAM literary festival. Come along and enjoy some liberty. We can’t take it for granted.

Suaimhneas Aigne

Li Cheng: Teampall Sléibhe
Nuair a bhíonn suaimhneas ag an aigne
bíonn suaimhneas ag an saol.
Níl aon rud ann, níl aon rud in easnamh.
Gan breith ar an réaltacht,
gan a bheith sáite san fholús,
ní beannaithe ná gaoismhear atá tú
gnáthdhuine, díreach, agus a shaothar curtha i gcrích aige.

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hõ Un)

Ikkyû - An Saol Seo Againne

Konoshima Okoku
Ithimid, cacaimid, codlaímid, agus éirímid;
Sin é an saol seo againne.
Níl le déanamh ina dhiaidh sin –
Ach bás a fháil

Zenmháistir Ikkyû Sojun

2019-10-02

Divertir pour dominer

Éiríonn leis an gcaipitleachas, d'aon iarraidh amháin, an draíocht ar fad a bhaint as an saol, gach aon rud iontaofa agus gach saghas neamh- spleáchais agus cruth- aitheachta a mhilleadh, agus ag an am céanna leibhéil neamhionannais a mhéadú ar mhaithe le leas an mhionlaigh.

Offensive Libertaire et Sociale, Divertir pour dominer

2019-10-01

Robert Gibbings

Robert Gibbings, Dublin under Snow, 1918
bleá cliath faoi shneachta
fadhbanna tráchta...
cúpla dán
dublin under snow
traffic problems...
a few poems
dublin unner snaw
sica bourach o traffic...
a pickle verse

Leagan Béarla na hAlban: John McDonald
ダブリンの雪
交通ストップ
数編の詩

Leagan seapáiníse: Mariko Sumikura