To run in front of or behind
other competitors
to run ... and ... and keep running
to run way out in front
or right bang inn the middle
of the elbow-shoving crowd
and at another time
run last!
but just to keep on running
until you have no ounce of strength left in you
not a breath
that is what it is to not lose hope!
Ayalneh Mulatu (born 1949) Ethiopia
Translated by Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje
Source: Songs We Learn From Trees. An Anthology of Ethiopian Amharuic Poetry. Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje (ed. and trans.), Carcanet, 2020
to run way out in front
or right bang inn the middle
of the elbow-shoving crowd
and at another time
run last!
but just to keep on running
until you have no ounce of strength left in you
not a breath
that is what it is to not lose hope!
Ayalneh Mulatu (born 1949) Ethiopia
Translated by Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje
Source: Songs We Learn From Trees. An Anthology of Ethiopian Amharuic Poetry. Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje (ed. and trans.), Carcanet, 2020
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