از: شعرهاي پادگان From: Garrison Poems

از: شعرهاي پادگان

شب‌هاي بلند
حکايت عشق‌هاي ممنوعه
شادهاي خُرد
و برگه‌هاي مرخصي جعلي
 
روزها
شستن ماشين فرمانده
تي کشيدن راهروها
و امربري افسرها
اکنون زير درخت زبان گنجشکي
جمع‌اند
و دور از چشم فرمانده
سيگاري
دست به دست مي‌چرخد
 
همچنان که
دود سيگار حلقه مي‌شود در هوا
با فحش‌هاي‌شان
مي‌توانند
به آزادي پرندگان رشک ببرند.
 

From: Garrison Poems

Long nights
Tales of forbidden love
Small pleasures
And forged permits for leave
 
Days
Washing the major's car
Mopping the corridors
Running errands for the officers
 
They lounge under an ash tree
Behind the sergeant's back
a cigarette is passed from hand to hand
 
As smoke and curses
curl into the air
they envy the freedom of a bird
 

From: Garrison Poems

Long nights
The tale of forbidden loves
Little joys
And forged leave notes
 
Days
Washing the commander’s car
Mopping the corridors
And running errands for the officers
Now they have gathered under an ash tree
And behind the commander’s back-
A cigarette moves from hand to hand
 
As the smoke circles up in the air
With their curses
They can envy the freedom of birds.
 

All Iranian men are required to do military service and this small poem gives a very clear insight into how they feel about that experience!

Like the other three poems of Ali Abdollahi’s we translated in this workshop, it was a pleasure to engage with the compact, concise way in which he conveys complex ideas in an understated idiom using clear imagery. A real example of the effectiveness of poetry that ‘shows rather than tells’.

Sarah Maguire, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Ali Abdollahi

Translated by

Alireza Abiz with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Farsi

Country

Iran