When your good-for-nothing lover
said the beginning and end of
wisdom
is in the smoking of a cigarette
you laughed
like you always do
spreading your fingers
curling your toes...
oh yes
oh yes
oh yes
laughter is no problem
but
did you do it just to show
how any little thing you do can get to me?
said the beginning and end of
wisdom
is in the smoking of a cigarette
you laughed
like you always do
spreading your fingers
curling your toes...
oh yes
oh yes
oh yes
laughter is no problem
but
did you do it just to show
how any little thing you do can get to me?
Ephrem Seyoum (20th century) Ethiopia
Translated by Henock Taddese and Chris Beckett
Source: Songs We Learn From Trees. An Anthology of Ethiopian Amharic Poetry, edited and translated by Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje, Carcanet Books, 2020
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