Monday, January 16, 2012

The Shadow Sura



"The one who has no
shadow within
No shadow to withdraw to
from the company of people
No shadow, no shade, no secret spring
quietly bubbling
No spring whose water heals
the spirit from fever

is helpless in the desert,
blinded by the sun,
doomed to take for real
every mirage,
and the desert sand forever
changing shape,
the city disappeared from maps
remaining as far away

The one who has no
shadow within
No shadow to withdraw to
from the company of people
No shadow, no shade, no secret spring
quietly bubbling
No spring whose water heals
the spirit from fever

Unhappy who has no shadow within"


In the wee interview in the end, he says - paraphrased: "This is madness, of course [writing poetry]… It's a consoling thing to remember, once you've flung something, a few verses, out onto their own orbit, in a way they remain there, whether you remember them or not. When you've done something and meant it for real… Poetry, in its way, has no season, no time, no autumn. They are there, if they are to be, to exist, at all. An organismic thing,which you just sometimes have to blow new life into."

He lived fast, died young, made many headlines due to his lifestyle, but I love his poetry and am currently reading his biography. It is a shame he is not translated into English - this effort is mine, and is here just to give someone who expressed interest a tiny taster.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

(o)

x

Reading the Signs said...

It's a fine translation. Have you considered doing this - as work, I mean? You would be a natural.

What a pity that Youtube is so sticky these days.

Anna MR said...

Hello Anon, and thank you for visiting.

Hei Schwes - and thank you for visiting, and the lovely things you say. I don't know whether there's much of a demand for Igloo poetry to be translated into English - but I wouldn't mind doing it, no.

Let me know if you hear of anyone who would like to publish some … I'll come running.

x

Reading the Signs said...

You know what: you should just do some and send it to the big-shot poetry magazines. I am sure I have seen other pieces of poetry-in-translation in some of these. And then when they have shown an interest - the publisher is more likely to follow suit. It's a brilliant idea. Remember you heard it here first.

The WVLs are saying efuse - and you couldn't have a more effusive sign than that!

Anna MR said...

I have indeed heard it here first. Thank you. Funnily enough, I've just been bumbling about at your house. But yes, no, I was actually thinking of sending some - after you first asked about it earlier today - to Words Without Borders, which specialise on translated poetry and fiction, and which, I believe, won't accept anything that appears in (translated) print elsewhere. However, I think one would need to get in touch with the author's estate and ask for permission and other complicated stuff. Which is just something I cannot face - complicated stuff, that is.

x