Monday, 09 October 2023 11:06

Ukraine

Written by
in Poetry
800
Ukraine

Ukraine is a bilingual poem in Irish and English by Gabriel Rosenstock, inspired by Nie Wieder Krieg (Never Again War) by Karl Wiener (see above, Public Domain image)

UKRAINE

wooden crosses over graves
beginning to look like daggers
sunk with a squelch into the earth
to quieten the undead
but undead and quivering they are not
they are truly dead
empire masters of the east
empire masters of the west
those are the undead

AN ÚCRÁIN

crosa adhmaid os cionn uaigheanna
féachann siad anois cosúil le miodóga
a sádh de ghlugar sa chré
d'fhonn na neamh-mhairbh a shuaimhniú
ach ní neamh-mhairbh ar crith ina gcraiceann iad
táid ar fad marbh go deimhin
máistrí impireacht an oirthir
máistrí impireacht an iarthair
sin iad na neamh-mhairbh duit

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Gabriel Rosenstock

Gabriel Rosenstock was born in postcolonial Ireland and is a poet, haikuist, tankaist, translator, playwright, novelist, short story writer and essayist.