A Little Bit About the Soul - Wislawa Szymborska

A soul is something we have every now and then.
Nobody has one all the time
or forever.

The Rains Will Come Again - Amenuveve Agbitor

While you roll in noble duvets,
And saw logs into the morning,
In magnificent buildings,
That pose elegantly,
On fine rocky hills,

The Wind - Robert Louis Stevenson

I saw you toss the kites on high 

And blow the birds about the sky; 

And all around I heard you pass, 

Like ladies' skirts across the grass — 

     O wind, a-blowing all day long, 

     O wind, that sings so loud a song!

It all seemed like a dream - Nazaha Zaeem

It all seemed like a dream,
As I sit in denial to believe,
I lost a soul before my eyes,

Where somebody drew a flower - Miriam Calleja

In winter, these rock dwellings
take on a different slant.
In winter as you walk, if you
take care not to slip, you arrive
at a rock placed by giants,
where somebody drew a flower.

A Small Prayer for the Unflummoxed Beaver - Kei Miller

so unmoved by the boat’s slow approach – the boat
drifting across the flat green acre of water; a small prayer
for these acres of water which, in the low light, seem firm;
the squirrels, however, are never fooled or taken in;

feellING THE BLANKS - Luis Bravo

( )
It is happening
in tongues of gold

Looking For Each Other - Thích Nhat Hanh

 I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
since I was a little child.
With my first breath, I heard your call,
and began to look for you, Blessed One.

three Haiku - Elis Juliana

In the school of life
there's no student who does not
want a vacation.

Lament of Iaroslavna - Pavlo Tychyna

(I)
Snow. Light flurries falling
on the Prince’s palace.
Around it day and night
walks a tiny voice crying:
      —Prince, my dearest Prince,
      are you beyond the Danube?

The Guali - Manuel María Madiedo

Far away are mountains, swelling
     Dark blue on a paler sky;
Whose faint quivering light is telling
     That the sun has risen high.
Straight above, he draws unto him
     All the splendor of the heaven;
Darting on the lonely pilgrim
     Rays like redhot lances driven.

We're all Rays from the Same Sun - Abdulla Shaig

Hey you, damnable mankind, tyrannizing down through the ages,
Vomiting blood, and only blood!
Did revenge conquer your heart?
Did the hot wind seer your soul?

Guns, Man and Death - Umaru Fofana

Gun, alone, not kills
Man, alone, kills
Man manufactures the gun
Man pulls the trigger on the gun

The Farmer in Wet Weather - Jónas Hallgrímsson

Goddess of drizzle,
driving your big
cartloads of mist
across my fields!

Earth and Dreamer - Alfonso Guillén Zelaya

Here I am, oh Earth! Diligently
I open the furrow in your bosom;
my hand, moved, deposits the seed;
the hand of a dreamer sowing life.

To a New Morning - Jaromír Borecký

I know not what 'twas o'er me stole,
As if the ice were rent apart,
That for a longdrawn span of dole
In chains had fettered fast my heart.

Come to me softly - Xasan Ganey

Her:
You, the bloomed Qaydar tree,
drenched by a rain,
leaves a fragrant wind which shakes,
You, my qudhac flowers

Her Picture - Reesom Haile

I wrote to Photo Studio
In The Hague,

The Last Supper Cathedral of Cusco - Odi Gonzales

Blindly attributed
to the Chiaroscurists of San Blas
to the Anonymous One of Maras
to the Master of Taray 
                                    a little something
I have to say:
                        this painting
came from my own hands: I  alone
painted, prepared, set forth the Sacred Meal

                                                            Here
the cunning Indian painter – the Anonymous One of the Cathedral –
in a flight of ecstasy
added from his own stores
hearty stews and the fruits of his harvest:

            in place of
the traditional bread – flat and unleavened --
he set upon on the paschal table
roasted cuy, stuffed spicy peppers
as if the Upper Room were not in the Holy Land

                                                but more likely
in cozy tavern in Cusco, let’s say
                                    “La Chola.”

---

Odi Gonzales (born 1962) Peru
Translated by Lynn Levin
Source: Per Contra, Winter 2007-2008

• Maras - A small Andean town in what is now known as the Sacred Valley of Peru. Before the Spanish conquest, this region was the center of the Inca civilization.
• Taray - A village in the Sacred Valley of Peru.
• Cuy - Guinea pig, a staple of the Andean diet.
• Chola - An affectionate name for an indigenous Andean girl or woman.

 

Once Upon a Time I - Sukasah Syahdan

once upon a time I
saw a first flower undress
in slow motion naked colour

Grandfather Crocodile - Xanana Gusmão

The legend says
and who am I to disbelieve!

When I get to heaven - Patricia Jabbeh Wesley

When I get to heaven
I’m going to shout hallelujah all over the place.
Dancing the Dorklor, the Wahyee,
the Ballet, the Rock and Roll.

Blue Specks - Nurunnessa Choudhury

In the clear world
I blew a cage of glass
and hid myself inside.

Longing - Teodors Tomsons

Still are the trees, still the fields,
Still the distant forests;
Fair is my homeland, oh, so fair,
My land of dream-blue forests.

To my son - Luis M. Valdiviezo Arista

I want to teach you to walk
Between the stony life
And the liquid death
With a flaming smile

Ode to the sun - David Guramishvili

O radiant sun of light,
A soul-inspiring sight.
I Unrivalled king of kings,
Thy praise through ages rings.

To Swim with Eels - Emelihter S. Kihleng

part of me comes from rodents
a rat surrounded by kemisik¹
in Saladak, land of lasialap²
all my friends are kemisik
while I am only part kitik³

It kindles all my soul - Casimir of Poland

It kindles all my soul, 

       My country's loveliness! These starry choirs
       That watch around the pole, 

God’s Word is in all creation - St. Hildegard of Bingen

No creature has meaning
without the Word of God.
God’s Word is in all creation, visible and invisible.

Polderland - Gerrit Achterberg

I walk through the polderland
beneath the slanting rain;
unending is this land,
unending are the ways,