Place d’Armes – Luxembourg
Some thirty pigeons in the center of the square.
A toddler spots one the color of ash from a finished cigarette.
He goes running and laughing,
convinced he’ll capture it,
round and round the square …
This old man who can hardly move
as he says he once caught this pigeon
the color of ash from a cigarette
finished.
Pjazza d’Armi – Il-Lussemburgu
From Around Two and A Half Hours Away from Heaven (2019)
Published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, Santa Venera, Malta.
Madwar tletin ħamiema f’nofs il-pjazza.
Tifel ta’ xi sentejn jiċċomba waħda
l-lewn tal-irmied ta’ sigarett li ntefa.
Bil-konvinzjoni li dalwaqt jaqbadha
idur idur mal-pjazza, jiġri w jidħaq
dar-raġel xiħ bilkemm jiflaħ jitħarrek
qed jgħid li darba qabad dil-ħamiema
l-lewn tal-irmied ta’ sigarett li ntefa.
I Wanted to Come to You
I wanted to come to your home, to wish you well;
bring your last book with me —
the one you wrote in one breath
knowing it would be the last one.
I phoned you, said: “I’m coming.”
But you asked me if I still carried
the diseases, the death of my ancestors;
if I’d picked flowers to give you
so they’d be ready for the funeral.
I know in your thoughts you’re seeing nothing
except soldiers tending their wounds —
no guns, swords rusty;
kings of fallen crown,
queens on street corners.
Ridt Niġi Għandek
From Around Two and A Half Hours Away from Heaven (2019)
Published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, Santa Venera, Malta.
Ridt niġi f’darek, nixtieqlek is-saħħa,
u miegħi kont se nġib l-aħħar ktieb tiegħek—
dak li ktibtu f’nifs għax taf li l-aħħar wieħed.
Ċempiltlek. Għedtlek “ġej”. Imm’int staqsejtni
għadnix inġorr il-mard, il-mewt ta’ qabli,
jonkella qtajtx il-ward u se nġibhomlok
għal-lest għall-funeral li daqt jagħmlulek.
Jien naf li ħsiebek mhu qed jara xejn
għajr ftit suldati qed idewwu l-ġrieħi,
bix-xwabel imsaddin, bla azzarini;
rejiet li waqgħatilhom il-kuruna
u rġejjen jistennew fil-kantunieri.
A Large Crow
A large crow is knocking with its beak
on the front door which I’ve bolted.
It’s fretting its wings while waiting.
Not now: I won’t open at this hour.
Come back tomorrow when the trees begin to stir,
when the city comes to its senses, recovers.
Come tomorrow, crow. I’ll surely open.
Korvu Daqsiex
From Around Two and a Half Hours Away from Heaven (2019)
Published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, Santa Venera, Malta.
Korvu daqsiex qed iħabbat b’munqaru
mal-bieb ta’ barra li sakkart bl-istanga.
Qed iferfer ġwenħajh waqt li jistenna.
Mhux issa: dal-ħin ma niftaħ lil ħadd.
Għaddi għada xħin is-siġar iqumu;
xħin il-belt tistejqer u tieħu r-ruħ.
Għaddi għada korvu. Niftaħlek żgur.
—
Immanuel Mifsud is a five-time national literary award winner and a European Union Prize for Literature recipient. Novelist, poet, playwright, and translator, Mifsud is a founding member of PEN Malta and serves as its current president. He lectures in literary theory and Maltese literature at the University of Malta.
Ruth Ward’s creative collaborations center on the Mediterranean, particularly Malta and Spain. Her translations of poetry and fiction have recently appeared or are forthcoming in AGNI, Columbia Journal, The Los Angeles Review, The Common, Modern Poetry in Translation (London), Poet Lore, and Southword (Cork, Ireland). She is a member of PEN America.