They tell you
the snow is melting.
Is the winter just sweating, in fact?
They tell you
that they’ve seen lightning.
Did the dark just cover a crack?
They tell you
it’s barely been raining.
Has the water been squeezed from the clouds?
They tell you
the sky gave a rumble –
or were their whispers that loud?
the snow is melting.
Is the winter just sweating, in fact?
They tell you
that they’ve seen lightning.
Did the dark just cover a crack?
They tell you
it’s barely been raining.
Has the water been squeezed from the clouds?
They tell you
the sky gave a rumble –
or were their whispers that loud?
They tell you
the Samu̇ryķ is soaring.
Was a fledgling testing its wings?
They tell you
the nightingale’s calling.
Or is somebody sobbing as he sings?
Kadyr Myrza Ali (1935 - 2011) Kazakhstan
Translated by Jason Harding
Source: Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Poetry Anthology, edited by Jason Harding, Public Foundation National Bureau of Translations and Cambridge University Press, 2019
©Ұлттық Аударма Бюросы (National Bureau of Translations) 2019
Samu̇ryķ – in Kazakh folklore, a gigantic, powerful, typically benevolent mythical bird which acts as a mediator between the three worlds: celestial (gods), earthly (man) and underworld (the dead).
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