Venice masks

Tuesday 22 October 2024

Many A Cold Season - Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin

Many a flower has blossomed and plucked 
Since we last said good-bye 
Many a cold season has come and gone... 
No, it was not the good-bye that hurt 
Not the under breath curse we parted with but the question 
Whether or not we had parted at all. 

Thought many a moon has been borne and gone 
Many a dreary summer returned and passed 
Whatever visions we have had of others 
Are visions reflected on the mirror of our past 
Whatever warmth we shared with others 
Is warmth evoked in memory of our past… 
No, it is not the big loss that hurt 
But our unforgotten eyes 
Who across the shoulder of those nearer us 
In vain, searched for one another, 
No, it is not the lingering relapse that hurt 
But our unyielding hearts 
Who, condemned to remain faithful to our past 
Betrayed the hearts of those now closer to us. 

Thought, from the four distant corners of mother earth 
Many a wild wind blew and appeased 
Many a wild dream fulfilled or misfired like ours 
We still search in the souls of those now nearer us 
For pieces and parts that may resemble our past 
Stubbornly hoping against dead ends 
Playing both ours and others’ lives false 
Eating life with gusto lest she eats us sooner than we thought 
Though, many an early dawn has been shaded by many a latter dusk 
Many a bright day swallowed by many a dark night 
Our past never really changes in us 
Like the nature of earth never really changes in her 
Like our first love is never really disfigured in our hearts 
Like our past still really prevails in our present.

Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin (1936 - 2006) Ethiopia
Source: Major Themes In Ethiopian Poetry In English From 1944 – 1967 E.C, Tewodros Bagale, MA Thesis, University of Addis Ababa, 2002
  • Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin was Ethiopian Poet Laureate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please keep your comments relevant and free from abusive language. Thank you. Note that comments are moderated so it may be a day or two before your comment is posted - irrelevant or abusive comments will not be published.