Deserts
I was born for love--
to give and to receive it.
Yet my life has passed
almost without loving.
So I've learned forgiving:
even the deserts
I have crossed
I feel no scorn for.
I just ask them
with astonished eyes:
What gardens were you born for?
(Translated from the Bulgarian by Heather McHugh)
Tuesday Poem, a community of poets, is based in New Zealand.
Oh Mim - what to say? This is an astounding piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Ah, it's not my English but Heather McHugh's. She translated Blaga Dimitrova's poem from Bulgarian to English.
ReplyDeleteClaire, isn't it just!
It feels like some of Tsvetayeva's work, this coming to utterance.
ReplyDeleteTsvetayeva's and Akmatova's work for sure, Signs. And why not Sappho, too. The directness!
ReplyDeleteI find the persona's perspective very wise. 'Forgiving' is not necessarily the path of least resistance. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. Cheers.
I'm grateful you stopped by, S.L.
ReplyDeletethank you, mim--another discovery!
ReplyDeletesuch clean language; each word like a perfectly placed stepping stone.
Dear Miriam
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this wonderful poem. Where can I read more poems of Blaga?
Thanks and Regards
gigi