Decorative metal wall panels;

A new task on easel to push back time;

A modest room for protection 

Against the elements;

A small supporting hug chair;

Well-worn clothes as old as I;

Old conforming flapping footwear;

A jug of water, a basin, coarse towel; 

Charcoal burner, glowing warm fire;

A piece of bread, a bottle of milk, fruits on tray;

 Half a cigarette burning on ashtray;

Distantly heard neighbor’s music;

A letter, a notepad, a newspaper;

Friends and family photo;

A side lamp, a shadow on the wall, hung work of art;

Books, books, more books –

Shelters, getaways, hideaways –

 Entertainers, enlighteners, companions;

A bed, a mattress, a pillow–a

Yawning refreshing bunk;

Ah, sleep, sleep, and,

More … much more…

These are the things that comfort.

POET: Gebre-Kristos Desta

TRANSLATOR: Mitiku Adisu © August 17, 2018 

The POET, a world-class painter, is here granting us a rare peek into a modestly furnished room. A spartan lifestyle indeed, but looking at the contents, a richer one! What an indictment this is against a culture of greed that has sprung up and metastasized in the past three decades! The poem was originally published sixty-one years ago in የዛሬዪቱ ኢትዮጵያ Ye’Zareyitu Ethiopia (literally, “today’s Ethiopia”)!

የሚያፅናኑ

ጌጣማ ብረት፣ የግድግዳ

ጅምር ሥራ፣ በየጊዜው የሚያድግ፣ ቀን የሚገፋ

ትንሽ ክፍል፣ ከዓለም ጣጣ የምትከልል

ትንሽ ወንበር፣ የምታቅፍ፣ የምትደግፍ

 አሮጌ ልብስ፣ አብሮ ያረጀ፣ የነተበ

አሮጌ ጫማ፣ ያገለገለ፣ የለፋ (የሰፋ)

ማንቆርቆሪያ፣ ሳህን፣ ውሃ፣ ውሃ መታጠቢያ

 ፎጣ፣ የሚሻክር

ምድጃ፣ ምድጃ ከሰል እሳት፣ እሳት ሙቀት

ቊራሽ ዳቦ፣ ወተት በጠርሙስ፣ ፍሬ በሳህን

ሲጃራ፣ የተጋመሰ፣ የሚጤስ

የጎረቤት ሙዚቃ፣ ከሩቅ የሚመጣ

ደብዳቤ፣ ማስታወሻ ደብተር፣ ጋዜጣ

የዘመድ፣ ፎቶግራፍ፣ የወዳጅ

 የራስጌ መብራት፣ የግድግዳ ጥላ፣ የተሰቀለ ስእል

መጻሕፍት፣ መጻሕፍት፣ መጻሕፍት

መጠጊያ፣ መሸሺያ፣ መደበቂያ

የሚያጫውቱ፣ የሚያስተምሩ፣ የሚያነጋግሩ

አልጋ ፍራሽ ትራስ የሚውጥ አልጋ፣ የሚያሳርፍ

 እንቅልፍ፣ እንቅልፍ፣ እንቅልፍ

 እንዲሁም ሌላ፣ እንዲሁም ብዙ፣ ብዙም ሌላ

ያፅናናሉ። 

ገ ብ ረ ክ ር ስ ቶ ስ ደ ስ ታ ሃምሌ 18/1950 ዓ.ም – በስነ ጥበብ ት/ቤት፤  ነሐሴ 30/1950 ዓ.ም – በዛሬዪቱ ኢትዮጵ

Mitiku Adisu’s English translation of Ethiopian (Afaan Oromoo and Amharic) poems was published under Blue Nile Poems (2018).