ከመቃብር "ናንየ ኣምጡልኝ”! / “Riportatemi nannié!”, dalla tomba! “Bring nannié Back!” From The Grave

ከመቃብር "ናንየ ኣምጡልኝ”! / “Riportatemi nannié!”, dalla tomba!

በእናቱ እቅፍ ከጥይት
የተረፈው ኣማን፣ በህፃን አንደበት፣
"ናንዬን ድው ኣረጋት" በማለት፣
የእናቱ፣ የገነት ሞት ኣረዳን።
 
በደቂቃ ኣባቱ፣ እናቱ፣ ኣክስቱ …
ያጣ ኣማን፣ “ኣታልቅሺ” እያለ
ኣያቱን፣ እናቱን ለማቀፍ የበሩ
መከፈት መዘጋት ይከታተላል።
 
ለብቻው፣ በሬሳ ተከቦ: በእናቱ ደም ተለወሶ፣
"ተነሺ" እያለ ሲንከባለል ውሎ፣
የህፃን ነገር፣ ከቀብር መልስ፣ ወንድሞቹ ያለቅሳሉ፣
እሱ ኣልገባውም፣ ኣይኖቹ ከበሩ ኣይለይም።
 
ኣቅፋ ደግፋ ያዳነችው ልጇ፣
ውቧ ገነትን ኣምጡልኝ ይለናል!
"ድው" ያደረግንበት "ናንየው"
ከየት እንውለድለት?!
 
"ተነሺ" እያለ በእንባው ደሟ
ኣጥቦ የገነዛት ገነት እንኳ ባንሰጠው፤
ኣድጎ ገጀራ እንዳይጬብጥ፣
የማንዴላ ኣሰር ተከትለን፣
የኣኖሌ የውሸት ትርክት ጥለን፣
ጦርነቱ ይቁም፣ ትግሬው፣ኣማራው፣…. ኣማንን ኣቅፈን እናሳድግ።
 
Aman, scampato dall’abbraccio
della madre-scudo, con
espressioni dolci di un bambino:
racconta al mondo che un uomo
“Ha fatto dew (2) a nannié!”.
 
In un batter d’occhio, padre, madre,
zia … son caduti davanti al bimbo.
Aman ha visto tutto, ma non ha capito
quel che è successo, egli prega la nonna,
di non piangere e aspetta per abbracciare
la madre, sorvegliando la porta che si
apre e si chiude con il via vai della gente.
 
Fracido del sangue di colei che
l’ha protetto fino all’ultimo fiato,
per ore e ore, solo circondato dai cadaveri
e corvi, piangendo pregava la madre ad alzarsi.
Ora, i fratelli maggiori piangono,
ma Aman continua a sorvegliare l’ingresso.
 
Aman vuole riabbracciare la madre che
l’ha protetto fino all’ultimo fiato.
Come riportare in vita Genet?
Come esaudire il suo desiderio?!
 
Non possiamo ridare ad Aman la madre
che da solo ha già provato a svegliare
avvolgendola nel sudario delle sue lacrime.
Seguendo le orme di Mandela, è tempo di dire
no alla guerra, no alle storie infondate di Anole. (3)
Tigrini, amhara, … insieme dobbiamo crescere
Aman con amore per evitare che da grande
per vendetta non afferri la machete.
 
(1) “Mammina” in amarico.
(2) Sparato su mammina
(3) Per la politica “dividi e impera” è stato raccontato che ad Anolé l’imperatore Menelik ha fatto tagliare i seni delle donne, come hanno dimostrato gli autorevoli storici come Haile Larebo, nonostante fosse una storia infondata, durante il precedente governo etiopico, ad Anolé è stato eretto un monumento su questa storia inesistente.
 

“Bring nannié Back!” From The Grave

Aman, having slipped the embrace
of his mother-shield, and with
a child’s sweetness
tells the world that a man:
“He pew-pew my mommy.”
 
In the blink of an eye, mother, father,
aunt…fell before the child.
Aman saw it all, but doesn’t get
it, he begs his grandma
not to cry and waits to embrace
his mother, eyeing the door that
opens and shuts as people come and go.
 
Soaked in the blood of she who
shielded him with her last breath,
hours and hours surrounded only by corpses
and crows, tearfully begging his mother to get up.
Now his older siblings are crying
but Aman keeps a watchful eye on the door.
 
[...]
 

Bring Nannié Back From The Grave

Aman, having slipped the embrace
of his mother-shield, and with
a child’s sweet expression
tells the world that a man:
“has shot my mommy”.
 
In the blink of an eye, mother, father
and aunt … fell before this child.
Aman has seen everything, but doesn’t
understand what has happened, he
begs his grandma not to cry and waits
to embrace his mommy, eyeing the door
that opens and shuts as people go in and out.
 
Drenched in the blood of she who
kept him safe till her last breath,
spent hours and hours surrounded by crows
and cadavers, begging his mother to get up.
Now his older brothers are crying but Aman
keeps a watchful eye on the door.
 
Aman only wants to embrace the mother
who protected him with her dying breath.
How could one bring Genet back to life?
How could one grant his wish?
 
We cannot bring Aman’s mother back to him
since he already tried, wrapping her
in the funerary shroud of his tears.
Following Mandela’s footsteps it’s time to say
no to war, no to Anolé’s unfounded stories
Tigrinians, Amhars, together we shall raise
Aman with love, so that one day when he’s older
he won’t pick up a machete, vengefully.
 

Eritrean poet and activist Ribka Sibhatu wrote ‘Riportatemi nannié’, dalla tomba! in both Italian and Tigrinya. We began by discussing the Tigrinya word nannié (mother/mommy) in its original language and decided to keep it in the title but not in the poem. This was something the poet was very keen on preserving, according to our guest translator André Naffis-Sahely. An interesting debate arose concerning the verb ‘scampato’ (to escape) in the first line of the poem. We opted for its iteration ‘slipped’ as it better conveyed a sense of the boy Aman sliding from his mother’s embrace without being noticed. We also discussed the various English options for the Italian verb ‘raccontare’. Some participants were keen on the iteration ‘retelling’ and some on ‘relating’, but the majority opted for the more straightforward ‘telling’. An act that the poet herself was enacting in her heartbreaking poem. An interesting debate arose when discussing the last line of the first stanza: ‘Ha fatto dew a nannié’, which we translated as ‘hew pew-pew my mommy’. We wanted to keep the boy speaking with his voice and register, using the onomatopoeic for ‘shooting/gunning down’ and opting for ‘mommy’ instead of the more formal ‘mother’. The Italian line ‘Aman ha visto tutto, ma non ha capito/quel che è successo’ instigated a fascinating debate about the verb ‘capire/to understand’. We found the solution ‘Aman saw it all, but doesn’t get it’ as we tried to convey the sense of urgency and speed in that stanza. The harrowing line ‘per ore e ore, solo circondato dai cadaveri e corvi’ was finally translated as ‘hours and hours, surrounded only by corpses and crows’. A devastating poem that moved us and shook us in equal measure.

Leo Boix, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Ribka Sibhatu

Translated by

André Naffis-Sahely Language

Italian

Country

Eritrea