Venice masks

Friday 8 September 2017

War and a Woman - Saba Kidane

War and a woman I sing.
A country
needs a woman
to find peace.

Only a woman
can sacrifice enough
to overcome fear,
win the fight
and still keep peace in sight.

Ready for anything,
she sacrifices herself
and gives birth,
rocking and soothing
like a lion

licking her cubs.
They grow with her love
but peace
demands more,
calling her back

to the trenches.
Guarding her children,
she still can’t refuse
such passion
or even think

of being tired,
parched, starved,
hurt or dead.
Instead
she takes a breath

and catches fire,
her breasts bouncing
as she races
to join her fighters,
marching and marching,

only she marches
for peace.

Saba Kidane (born 1978) Eritrea
Translated by Charles Cantalupo and Ghirmai Negash.
Source: UniVerse

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