An intimate exile ስደተኛቅኔ (‘a personal lament, a collective grief’)
space is shape less
a place is a fiction,
and a fiction is a fact,
sadly.
with a thought you triumph,
in a battle you don't take part
in a solely grief,
geography is just a graph.
ቦታ ቅርጽ የለውም
ስፍራም ልብ ወለድ ነው
በባከነ ሀሳብ….ባልዘመቱበት ድል
በብቻ ቁዘማ…..በብቻ ድልድል
ሀገር ካርታ ብቻ …. ካርታም ያው ምስቅልቅል
የሀሳብ መስመር ላይ ….ሀሳብን የሚጥል!
I am in exile!
ባይተዋር ነኝ እኔ
ግዞተኛ ቅኔ
space is shape less
a thought is space less.
in an affair I roar,
in a plot I matter,
in a play I function
I am in exile.
on the verge of the river,
a thirsty fish in a water.
in a short distance
in a breath away,
a breathless dense air.
I am in exile!
ባይተዋር ነኝ እኔ
ግዞተኛ ቅኔ
በገዛ መንደሬ
የተሸለምኩ መጥኔ
ትንፋሽ እያጋራሁ …..ትንፋሽ ያጣሁ ቅኔ
እያለሁ የለሁም
አልታያችሁም ?
with a breath that bind us,
with a scarce hope to come
in a short distance,
in a nearby vicinity,
I am in exile!
can't you see me ?
እያለሁ የለሁም
አልታያችሁም ?
I am in exile
in my own city
ባይተዋር ነኝ እኔ …. በገዛ ሀገሬ
በገዛ መንደሬ
ስደተኛ ቅኔ
a sibling to my dream
a stranger to a brother.
a distance between us
is a distance among us.
your lineage
is a misconnect,
my thought line
is inadequate.
before I expelled,
I am a mis-placed
I am a mis-played
can't you see me ?
አልታያችሁም ?
ለቤቴ እንግዳ
ለወንድሜ ባዳ
ከስደቴ በፊት….. የተሰደድኩ እኔ
ቦታዬ ላይ ሆኘ …..ቦታ ያጣ ጎኔ
ሀገሬ ላይ ሆኘ….ህብር አልባ ቅኔ
ግዞተኛ ቅኔ
I am in exile
ባይተዋር ነኝ እኔ
ስደተኛ ቅኔ
on the verge of the river,
a thirsty fish in a water.
in a short distance
in a breath away,
in my own city
in my own city
ባይተዋር ነኝ እኔ በገዛ ሀገሬ
በገዛ መንደሬ
ስደተኛ ቅኔ
ቦታ ቅርጽ የለውም
ስፍራም ልብወለድ ነው
በባከነ ሀሳብ….ባልዘመቱበት ድል
በብቻ ቁዘማ…..በብቻ ድልድል
ሀገር ካርታ ብቻ …. ካርታም ያው ምስቅልቅል
የሀሳብ መስመር ላይ ….ሀሳብን የሚጥል!
I am in exile
I am in exile
Can’t you see me?
በገዛ መንደሬ
የተሸለምኩ መጥኔ
ትንፋሽ እያጋራሁ …..ትንፋሽ ያጣሁ ቅኔ
እያለሁ የለሁም
አልታያችሁም ?
I am in exile
Can’t you see me?!
an intimate exile from Noelle Awadallah on Vimeo.
The publication of this piece was possible thanks to Frauenhelfenfrauen and VIDC.