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in this issue
Feminine Energy and Passion
Brikena SmajliBrikena Smajli. Photo: Migjen Kelmendi
8 poems
Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie and Janice Mathie-Heck
Brikena Smajli was born and raised in Shkodra where she currently lives. She is a fine representative of a new generation of female writers in Albania.
Smajli is the author of the following poetry volumes: Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat (The She-Wolves Die Last), Shkodra 1997; and Përditë ndërtoj shtëpi me ashkla (Every Day I Build a House with Splinters), Tirana 2006.
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(Endless Song)
Two-faced wolf,
Angel and man,
It clawed at the attics
Covered in glacial moss
And...
emptyfound fossils
Love defaced
By one spoken word.
[(Kangë pa fund), from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.14]
Powerless
The stare of death does not obey me,
Anguish has filled my soul with straw.
[Pafuqi, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.24]
Pain holds the Ashes
Pain holds the ashes of its fire,
Pain is life,
Bent shoulders of an old wife,
Fingers folded behind.
Pain is fire,
Pain, funeral pyre,
A whisper's caress
That bestows no solace.
Pain is destruction
Pain, corpse in its socket,
Gaping mouth of a witch in its pocket,
Pain is a drop.
Pain is the icy tide
Of a liquidless sea
Pain is... lament.
[Dhimbja ka hirin, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.29]
Tear
The curse of rivers
Has seized me,
It is cold on the road,
My legs are drenched with water,
But, when souls weep,
Their shadows shiver in ponds
And grow long.
Mythical beasts
Float in caverns,
The flame of the candle quivers alone
And kisses the stalagmites
Of the soul...
[Lot, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.30]
The Comedy is Over
The art-lovers applaud in a tumult,
Parterre, the actors bow, their hands on their hearts.
Behind the scenes both of them weep,
Each for his own plight.
The comedy is over,
Now let us view the tragedy!
[Komedia mbaroi, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.31]
To Them
You leave me now with a smirk and a chuckle
As you would with someone you've broken,
But you never outdid me in one of your struggles,
You interred me with words that you've spoken.
[Atyre, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.38]
The She-Wolf
Everyday
I walk out to make friends with the wolves,
People block my path.
I devour them!
[Ulkonja, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.45]
Tonight
No doors tonight shall be left ajar
For the wolf and I are at large.
[Sonte, from the volume Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat, Shkodra: At Gjergj Fishta, 1997, p.54]
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