A print of one of Heba Zagout’s paintings. All of the original canvases of this Palestinian artist were destroyed
in the Israeli airstrike that killed her and two of her sons, Adam and Mahmoud, in October 2023.
Heba Zagout is a tanka in Irish and English (5-7-5-7-7 syllables) by Gabriel Rosenstock, in memory of the eponymous Palestinian artist.
it is difficult
to reassemble a dove
to get the wings right
and, of course, the beating heart -
the most difficult of all
tá sé fiordheacair
colm a chur le chéile
na sciatháin, abair,
agus an croí beo, ar ndóigh,
an chuid is deacra ar fad
eško je
opet sastaviti golubicu
da dobije prava krila
i, naravno, srce što kuca –
najteže od svega
Croatian version: Tomislav Maretić
Il est difficile
De reconstituer une colombe
Mettre les ailes en places
et, le plus dur, bien sûr
refaire battre le coeur.
(Leagan Fraincise . Francis Combes .)