#21

Mihret Kebede
Translated from the Amharic by Mihret Kebede & anna moschovakis

July 31, 2018

let’s talk about the flag . . .
a poem starts like this;
a nice little poem . . . here is my pain
I’ll cut off your finger . . . while kissing your palm;
oh flag . . . oh battle cry
hide behind it . . . my country!
let the wrap be prepared . . . that binds your whole waist
you’ve had it fabricated . . . in another poor place;
for the sake of the flag . . . and for those who have hung
for those who were freed . . . by its hoisting once
if it has stopped preaching love . . . it’s time to pull it down;
there is no resurrection . . . without crucifixion
for what you love . . . we are debased by the hour;
people learn: to raise a flag . . . means abandon your friends
this lesson . . . is killing us all;
oh, for what you love . . . for what each of us worships
by the scent of frankincense . . . for the sake of the sheikhs
what matters more . . . person or sign?
you raise results . . . above their cause
you confuse the world . . . with the spirit world
you forget your neighbor . . . but remember a symbol;
I have a friend . . . a gifted designer
should he make us all flags . . . something to hold up?
if flags are what we need . . . then to each their own!
let a hundred million flags be made!
with China now here . . . “exploring” our oil . . .
let’s think about this . . . let’s think this thing through
what was it we lifted together . . . before the flag?

 

#evolutionarypoems21

 

ሐምሌ 24፣ 2010

የባንዲራን ነገር … . እስኪ እንነጋገር
ብሎ ይጀምራል …… የግጥም ገራገር፤
ገራገሩ ግጥሜ … . ያውልህ ህመሜ
ጣትህን ቆረጥኩት … . መዳፍህን ስሜ፤
አወየው ባንዲራ … .  . አወየው ሽለላ
ተደበቂ ሃገሬ … . ከባንዲራሽ ኋላ
ወገብሽን የሚዞር … መቀነት ይታሰር
ዘርፋፋ ሰፍተሻል … . በተራቆተ ሀገር፤
እረ በባንዲራው … .  .  . በተሰቀለው
ሰቃዩን ጨምሮ …… ነጻ ባወጣው
ፍቅርን ካልዘከረ … . ስበህ አውርደው
ትንሳኤን ይሰብካል … .  . ስቅለት ያልገባው፤
እረ በምትወዱት …… አድረን አነስንሳ
ወገንክን ጣልና …  .  . ባንዲራውን አንሳ
የሚል ምች ጨረሰን … . የጅምላ ወሳንሳ፤
እረ በመስጂዱ … . በታቦቱ ሞገስ
በቀሳውስቱ እጣን …  .  . በሸሆቹ መጀን
ከሰው ከመለዮ …  .  . የቱ ነው ‘ሚበጀን?
የ’ጃችሁን ፍሬ …… ከሰው አግዝፋችሁ
ገሃዱን ከመንፈስ …  .  . እያሰናኛችሁ
መለዮውን እንጂ …  .  . ሰውን ረሳችሁ፤
እድሜ ለጠቢቡ …  .  . ለነዳፊው ጓዴ
ሺህ ባንዲራ ሰርቶ…  . የንበሽብሸን እንዴ?
ካዋደደን ምናል …  .  . ቁም ነገር ከሰራ
መቶ ሚሊዮን አይነት …  .  . ይመረት ባንዲራ
ቻይና እንደሁ ከቤት ነው …  . ድፍድፍ እያጣራ
ግን ግን በጨዋ ደንብ …  .  . እስኪ እንነጋገር
ከባንዲራ በፊት …  . ምን ይሰቀል ነበር?

#ተንከባላይግጥሞች21

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Mihret Kebede is a multidisciplinary artist and poet whose research-based practice engages poetry, sound, and visual culture. Her art and writing has appeared in Circumference Magazine, Lyrikline, Modernist Art in Ethiopia, Washington Square Review, World Literature Today, and elsewhere, including the anthologies Wax and Gold: Poetry Jazz and Songs We Learn from Trees. The recipient of an award from the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture for her art and organizing work, she co-founded Tobiya Poetic Jazz, Netsa Art Village Artists Collective, and the Addis International Video Art Festival. Kebede is a PhD candidate at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her #evolutionarypoems (#ተንከባላይግጥሞች)—the first 100 of which are now collected in a bilingual Amharic/English edition from Circumference Books—are written in direct reaction to political events taking place in Ethiopia over the last seven years and form part of her doctoral research.

anna moschovakis works with poetry and prose as a writer, editor, translator, publisher, teacher, and designer. Her translation of David Diop’s 2020 novel At Night All Blood Is Black (Frère d’âme) received the International Booker prize and the Los Angeles Times Book award. anna’s books include An Earthquake Is a Shaking of the Surface of the Earth and They and We Will Get Into Trouble for This. She is a longtime member of the publishing collective Ugly Duckling Presse and a co-founder of Bushel Collective, an experimental mixed-use storefront space in Delhi, NY. Recently, anna launched Dirt Editions, an informally distributed pamphlet press. Her translation of An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail by Hélène Giannechinni (Fitzcarraldo Editions) will be released this year. The English versions of Mihret Kebede’s poems collected in #evolutionarypoems (Circumference Books) were created in collaboration with the author over a five-year period.

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#evolutionarypoems
Circumference Books
  • Featured book

The 100 poems by Ethiopian writer and artist Mihret Kebede in #evolutionarypoems are rhythmic and direct reactions to contemporary political events. These poems turn over hard questions about protest and power with an attention to everyday life that is woven inside political witness. #evolutionarypoems shows how revolution is not linear and how a deep connection to homeland lives inside of critique. The book is Kebede’s first published in English and Amharic.

The book #evolutionarypoems is a collaboration between Kebede and the writer and translator Anna Moschovakis. The two met in Addis Ababa in 2009. A decade later, they came together to translate these poems from Amharic into English, meeting throughout the pandemic to discuss the poems, their context, and how to transport them into English. The result is a bilingual book that is also a living conversation between friends, contexts, and languages.

About the book, Uljana Wolf writes, “At once archive of the present and activation of silenced histories, Mihret Kebede’s #evolutionarypoems powerfully ignites an imaginary of resistance in order to change the rules of the game: “let me become flame / I am the people ... not fuel, nor tool.” In this first English edition, Anna Moschovakis’s superbly energizing translation from the Amharic—document of sustained friendship and dialogue—is an expansion of that collective imaginary.”

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