Fifty Bad Translations
| En
| Sw+literal
| En+Sw (Swahili)
Previous
| Next
Millions of poems have already been written by mosquitoes buzzing about our ears. They have been written between the lines of graffiti inside our bathroom stalls. The poems I write next will rival those. Mine will blow through town like maple leaves. They’ll be carried along telephone lines. They’ll be washed into sewers and float down streams. They’ll be used as packing material for care packages and museum artifacts. Everyone who can’t be clearly heard will be thought to be reciting my poems. People huddled against a storm will hear my verses in the ravages of wind. Trees falling alone in the jungle will spell out my songs with broken limbs. People will try to remember what they heard when vases smash on wooden floors, when dogs dream, when cats caterwaul, when old demented men mutter in passing, and when babies babble, because these will be reminders of my poems.
Nitaandika wimbo juu ya mbawa za nzi Utoe muziki arukapo wausikie walio wengi Ushairi wa jalalani utaimbwa Juu ya vidonda vya wakulima Na usaha ulio jasho lao. Nitaandika juu ya mbawa za wadudu Wote warukao Juu ya mistari ya pundamilia Na masikio makubwa ya tembo. Juu ya kuta vyooni, maofisini, madarasani, Juu ya paa za nyumba, kuta za Ikulu, Na juu ya khanga na tisheti. Nitaandika wimbo huu: Mafuriko ya mwaka huu Yatishia nyumba kongwe bondeni. Waliomo wameanza kuihama Na miti ya umeme imeanguka. Palipokuwa na mwanga, sasa giza. Mafuriko ya mwaka huu! Mti mkongwe umelalia upande Wa nyumba zetu hafifu. Upepo mkali uvumapo hatulali. Kila kukicha twatazama mizizi yake Na mkao wake, na kuta hafifu za nyumba. Lazima ukatwe kuanzia matawi hadi shina Mafuriko ya mwaka huu yaashiria . . . Tutabaki kuwasimulia wajukuu: Mwaka ule wa mafuriko Miti mingi mikongwe ilianguka. Mafuriko ya mwaka huu! Wengi wataumbuka.