Poet: Kirmen Uribe
Translator: Elizabeth Macklin
Language: Basque
Region: Basque Country, Spain
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the language is unperfected
A poem by Kirmen Uribe, translated from Basque by Elizabeth Macklin
Ezin Esan
Ezin da esan Libertatea, ezin da esan Berdintasuna,
ezin da esan Anaitasuna, ezin esan.
Ez zuhaitz ez erreka ez bihotz.
Ahaztu egin da antzinako legea.
Uholak eraman du hitzen eta gauzen arteko zubia.
Ezin zaio esan tiranoak erabaki irizten dionari heriotza.
Ezin da esan norbait falta dugunean,
oroitzapen txikienak odolusten gaituenean.
Inperfektua da hizkuntza, higatu egin dira zeinuak
errotarri zaharrak bezala, ibiliaren ibiliz. Horregatik,
ezin da esan Maitasuna, ezin da esan Edertasuna,
ezin da esan Elkartasuna, ezin esan.
Ez zuhaitz ez erreka ez bihotz.
Ahaztu egin da antzinako legea.
Alabaina “ene maitea” zure ahotik entzutean
aitor dut zirrara eragiten didala,
dela egia, dela gezurra.
No Saying
No saying Liberty, no saying Equality,
no saying Fraternity—can’t say it.
Not tree not stream not heart.
The ancienter law is been forgot.
The flood’s taken out the bridge from words to things.
Can’t call what a tyrant thinks to decide death.
No saying when we’re longing for somebody’s presence,
when the smallest reminder empties the blood from a vein.
The language is unperfected, the signs worn down
as old millstones—the action of action. That’s how come
no saying Love, no saying Beauty,
no saying Solidarity—can’t say it.
Not tree not stream not heart.
The ancienter law is been forgot.
Though when I’ve heard “My love” from your mouth,
I confess it has thrilled my being—
Whether it’s true or if a lie.
Kirmen Uribe is a Basque language writer. He won the National Prize for Literature in Spain in 2009 for his first novel Bilbao-New York-Bilbao. The languages into which the novel has been translated exceed 15, including French (Gallimard) and Japanese (Hakusui Sha). His poetry collection Meanwhile Take My Hand (Graywolf, 2007), translated into English by Elizabeth Macklin, was a finalist for the 2008 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. His works have been published on The New Yorker, Open City and Little Star.
Elizabeth Macklin has published two collections of poems, A Woman Kneeling in the Big City and You’ve Just Been Told. In 1999–2000 she spent an Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship year studying the Basque language in Bilbao, Spain. She is a freelance writer and editor in New York City.
These poems appeared in Issue 1 of Circumference: Volume 1, Issue 1 • Autumn/Winter 2003
© 2003 CIRCUMFERENCE, Inc.
