POET OF THE WEEK
Tesfaye Demisse
Week of November 6
197/365
ውሃ
የደም ዝውውሬ የልቤን ትርታ
የነፍሴን እስትንፋስ የህይወቴን ቃታ
የሰውነቴ ሰውነት ተራሮች መሀል መንጭታ
በጅረቱ ተንደርድራ ፈጥና መጥታ
ጥሜን ልትቆርጥ ልትሰጠኝ እርካታ
ወጪ ሳላበዛ ሳልጨነቅባት
ጥርት ያለች ውሃ እንከን የሌለባት
በየ’ስቴቱ ላይ ፈልጌ ያጣኋት
ሲያትል ስመጣ እቤቴ አገኘኋት
ውሃ
የደም ዝውውሬ የልቤን ትርታ
የነፍሴን እስትንፋስ የህይወቴን ቃታ
የሰውነቴ ሰውነት ተራሮች መሀል መንጭታ
በጅረቱ ተንደርድራ ፈጥና መጥታ
ጥሜን ልትቆርጥ ልትሰጠኝ እርካታ
ወጪ ሳላበዛ ሳልጨነቅባት
ጥርት ያለች ውሃ እንከን የሌለባት
በየ’ስቴቱ ላይ ፈልጌ ያጣኋት
ሲያትል ስመጣ እቤቴ አገኘኋት
WATER
My bloodstream and my heartbeat
The breath of my soul and my life secret
The body of my body which comes from the mountain site
Following the thin path to quench my thirst
Without being worried and not spending a lot
Finally, I found the cleanest water in my home city, Seattle
After searching so hard in other states of the country.
Tesfaye Demisse 33, shoreline
Translated from Amharic by Samson Yirsaw
TRANSLATE THIS POEM
FIRST POEM I was 18 and it was called “Ketero,” which means “Appointment.” It’s about my first love.
FAVORITE POEM “Esat Wey Abeba” by Loret Tsegaye G. Medhin
DEAREST BODY OF WATER I grew up with a river in Ethiopia called Meta Abo; we used it for washing clothes, irrigation, etc.
EXPLORE MORE
Amharic | birth | blessing | Chinese | drought and thirst | family | home | if water could speak | Indigenous | justice | like water | local waters | love and loss | Lushootseed | memory | Northgate | oceans and seas | Punjabi | rain | rivers and lakes | Russian | Spanish | sweat and tears | swim | Tlingit | toilets and taps | transit | Vietnamese | we are water | wildlife | Youth
