كأنَّما يروي عن مروي He Tells Tales of Meroe

كأنَّما يروي عن مروي

كأنَّما صوت نقيفه يطلعُ من كسوتِه الحجريةْ
كأنَّما طبقات صوتِه تتلوَّنُ في الظلمةِ مغسولةً في طبقاتِ الأبديةْ
 
حينما رأيتُه ساهياً ووحيداً
في "فترينة" المتحفِ
تذكرتُ نطفتَه الأولى مختلطةً بطينتِه الأمِّ
كان يقنصُ الفرائسَ باللُّعابِ
يموِّه مفترسيه باللّون وأحابيلَ أخرى
يستيقظُ مثل أقرانه مِنْ سُباته الموسميّْ
لموسم التزاوج الجديدْ
قبل أن يصبح أثراً غامضاً خلف الزجاجْ
 
كأنَّما يروي عن مروي
شاهداً على غروبها مرةً ومرة على شموخِ مجدها ..
كأنَّه في سُباته الأخيرِ يتأهبُ ثانيةً
للحياة بلباسٍ وتاجٍ جديدْ - بلسانٍ جديدْ.
 

He Tells Tales of Meroe

As if his croak sounds from stone itself
As if his voice in darkness is stained with the timbre of eternity 
 
When I first saw him alone, lost in thought,
poised behind glass,
I recalled how his sperm had once spawned from the suck of motherly mud
to snatch prey with spit
A camouflaged trickster,
awakening each spring with his mates
to a spring of mating
 
Now an enigmatic relic behind glass,
perhaps he tells tales of Meroe – 
witness to that city’s sad trajectory from glory to dejection
 
In this, his last siesta, 
he readies himself for life
with his new cloak, a new tongue and his crown
 
Picture of Limestone Frog
 
Figure of crouching frog, in a hard fossiliferous limestone. Perhaps
an image to ensure the fertility of the rains and the Nile flood.
500 bc–ad 100. uc43984
 

He Tells Tales of Meroe

As if his Croak comes out from his stoney attire
as if his voice tones change colour, in the darkness, washed (drenched) in the layers of eternity
 
when I saw him lost in thoughts and loneliness
in the Museum’s display unit
I remembered (recalled) his first seed of life mixed with his motherly clay
he was snatching his prey with saliva
deceiving his predators  with camouflages and other tricks
waking up like (with) his peers, from his seasonal hibernation,
to a new season of mating
(All this) before he became an enigmatic relic (displayed) behind glass
as if narrating the tale of Merawi
as was a witness of its demise, once, and as was a witness of its grandeur gloriousness,
as if preparing himself for life, in his last siesta, 
with new attire, new crown and a new tongue.
 

Original Poem by

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi

Translated by

Atef Alshaer, Rashid El Sheikh with Sarah Maguire Language

Arabic

Country

Sudan