Suheir Hammad: Poems of war, peace, women, power

Translator: Aida Musai Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

"What I Will"

"Cfare do te bej"

I will not dance to your war drum.

Nuk do te kercej pas daulleve tuaja te luftes

I will not lend my soul nor my bones to your war drum.

Nuk do t'ia fal shpirt e as kockat daulleve tuaja te luftes.

I will not dance to that beating.

Nuk do te kercej nen ate ritem.

I know that beat.

E njoh ate ritem.

It is lifeless.

Eshte i pajete.

I know intimately that skin you are hitting.

E njoh shume mire lekuren qe ju po qelloni.

It was alive once,

Dikur ishte e gjalle,

hunted, stolen,

e kerkuar, e vjedhur,

stretched.

e zgjatur.

I will not dance to your drummed-up war.

Nuk do te kercej pas luftes suaj nen ritem daullesh.

I will not pop, spin, break for you.

Nuk do te hidhem, rrotullohem, thyhem per ju.

I will not hate for you

Nuk do te urrej per hatrin tuaj

or even hate you.

e as nuk do t'ju urrej ju.

I will not kill for you.

Nuk do te vras per hatrin tuaj.

Especially I will not die for you.

E vecanerisht nuk do te vdes per ju.

I will not mourn the dead with murder nor suicide.

Nuk do te mbaj zi per te vdekurit duke vrare, apo u vetevrare.

I will not side with you or dance to bombs

Nuk do te mbaj anen tuaj e as do te kercej pas bombave

because everyone is dancing.

thjesht sepse te gjithe kercejne.

Everyone can be wrong.

Cdokush mund te gaboje.

Life is a right, not collateral or casual.

Jeta eshte e drejte, nuk vjen si pasoje e as rastesisht.

I will not forget where I come from.

Nuk do te harroj nga vij.

I will craft my own drum.

Do te ndertoj daullen time.

Gather my beloved near,

Do te marr afer te dashurit,

and our chanting will be dancing.

dhe himni yne do te jete kercimi.

Our humming will be drumming.

Gumezhima jone do te jete renia e daulles.

I will not be played.

Nuk do te lejoj te luani me mua.

I will not lend my name nor my rhythm to your beat.

Nuk do t'ia fal emrin e as ritmin tim rrahjeve tuaja.

I will dance and resist and dance and persist and dance.

Do te kercej e do te rezistoj, do te duroj e do te kercej.

This heartbeat is louder than death.

Kjo rrahje zemre eshte me e zhurmshme se vdekja.

Your war drum ain't louder

Daullet tuaja te luftes nuk gjemojne

than this breath. Haaa.

me shume se kjo frymemarrje. Haaa

What's up TED people? Let me hear you make some noise.

C'kemi njerez te TED-it? Dua t'ju degjoj te beni zhurme.

(Applause)

(duartrokitje)

A bunch of pacifists.

Nje dore pacifistesh.

Confused, aspiring pacifists.

Pacifiste te konfuzuar, ambicioze.

I understand.

E kuptoj.

I've been wrong a lot lately.

Se fundmi kam gabuar shpesh.

Like a lot.

Shume shpesh.

So I couldn't figure out

Keshtu nuk gjeja dot

what to read today.

c'te lexoja sot.

I mean, I've been saying I've been prepping.

Thashe qe isha pergatitur.

What that means is prepping my outfit,

Doja te thoja qe kisha pergatitur veshjen,

(Laughter)

(te qeshura)

prepping options,

kisha pergatitur alternativat,

trying to figure out what I'm coming behind

duke dashur te kuptoj se pas kujt do te flisja

and going in front of.

dhe kush do vinte pas.

Poetry does that.

Poezia e ben kete.

It preps you. It aims you.

Te pergatit. Te jep nje qellim.

So I am going to read a poem

Keshtu do te lexoj tani nje poezi

that was chosen just now.

qe e zgjodha vec tani.

But I'm going to need you

Por dua qe juve

to just sit for like 10 minutes

te rrini ulur per rreth 10 minuta

and hold a woman who is not here.

me nje grua qe nuk ndodhet ketu.

Hold her now

Mbajeni ate

with you.

afer vetes.

You don't need to say her name out loud, you can just hold her.

Nuk eshte e nevojshme t'ia thoni emrin me ze te larte, mjafton t'a mbani afer.

Are you holding her?

Eshte me ju?

This is "Break Clustered."

Kjo eshte "Thyerje te grupuara".

All holy history banned.

Ndalohet cdo lloj historie e shenjte.

Unwritten books predicted the future, projected the past.

Librat e pashkruar parashikuan te ardhmen, projektuan te shkuaren.

But my head unwraps

Por mendimet e mia shpalosen

around what appears limitless,

rreth dickaje qe duket e pafundme,

man's creative violence.

dhunes kreative te njeriut.

Whose son shall it be?

I biri i kujt do te jete?

Which male child will perish a new day?

Foshnja djale e kujt do t'i gezohet nje dite te re?

Our boys' deaths galvanize.

Vdekjet e djemve tane elektrizojne.

We cherish corpses.

Ne ushqejme kufoma.

We mourn women, complicated.

Mbajme zi per grate, e nderlikuar.

Bitches get beat daily.

Kurva rrihen cdo dite.

Profits made, prophets ignored.

Fitimet rriten, profetet injorohen.

War and tooth, enameled salted lemon childhoods.

Lufte dhe dhembe, femijeri te llakosura me kripe e limon.

All colors run, none of us solid.

Ngjyrat ndryshojne, asnje prej nesh nuk eshte gur.

Don't look for shadow behind me. I carry it within.

Mos e kerko hijen pas meje. Une e mbaj ate brenda.

I live cycles of light and darkness.

Jetoj cikle drite dhe erresire.

Rhythm is half silence.

Ritmi eshte gjysme heshtjeje.

I see now, I never was one and not the other.

Tani e kuptoj, nuk kam qene asnjehere as njera, e as tjetra.

Sickness, health, tender violence.

Semundje, shendet, dhune e embel.

I think now I never was pure.

Tani mendoj se kurre s'kam qene e dlire.

Before form I was storm,

Perpara trajtes isha stuhi,

blind, ign'ant -- still am.

e verber, e paditur... ende e tille.

Human contracted itself blind, malignant.

Njerezimi i tkurrur, i verber, keqdashes.

I never was pure.

Nuk kam qene kurre e dlire.

Girl spoiled before ripened.

Vajze e zhveshur para pjekjes.

Language can't math me.

Gjuha nuk me mat dot.

I experience exponentially.

Perjetoj ne menyre eksponenciale.

Everything is everything.

Gjithcka eshte gjithcka.

One woman loses 15, maybe 20, members of her family.

Nje grua humbet 15, apo 20 pjestare te familjes.

One woman loses six.

Nje grua humbet gjashte.

One woman loses her head.

Nje grua humbet toruan.

One woman searches rubble. One woman feeds on trash.

Nje grua kerkon ne rrenoja. Nje grua ushqehet me plehra.

One woman shoots her face. One woman shoots her husband.

Nje grua qellon veten ne fytyre. Nje grua qellon burrin.

One woman straps herself.

Nje grua var veten.

One woman gives birth to a baby.

Nje grua lind nje foshnje.

One woman gives birth to borders.

Nje grua lind kufij te rinj.

One woman no longer believes love will ever find her.

Nje grua nuk beson me se dashuria do t'i beje vizite.

One woman never did.

Nje grua nuk e besoi asnjehere.

Where do refugee hearts go?

Ku shkojne zemrat e refugjateve?

Broken, dissed,

Te thyera, te fyera,

placed where they're not from, don't want to be missed.

te vendosura larg vendit te tyre, nuk duan te ndjellin mall.

Faced with absence.

Perballe mungeses.

We mourn each one

Mbajme zi per secilen

or we mean nothing at all.

ose nuk kjo nuk ka kuptim.

My spine curves spiral.

Shpina perthyhet ne spirale.

Precipice running to and running from human beings.

Rrepire qe shkon drejt dhe larg qenieve njerezore.

Cluster bombs left behind.

Bomba te grupuara pas shpines.

De facto landmines.

Mina de facto.

A smoldering grief.

Zi qe digjet brenda vetes.

Harvest contaminated tobacco.

Korr duhan te kontaminuar.

Harvest bombs.

Korr bomba.

Harvest baby teeth.

Korr dhembe femijesh.

Harvest palms, smoke.

Korr palma, tym.

Harvest witness, smoke.

Korr deshmitare, tym.

Resolutions, smoke.

Premtime, tym.

Salvation, smoke.

Shpetim, tym.

Redemption, smoke.

Falje, tym.

Breathe.

Merr fryme.

Do not fear

Mos u frikeso

what has blown up.

nga ajo c'ka shpertheu.

If you must,

Nese duhet,

fear the unexploded.

atehere frikesohu nga e pashperthyera.

Thank you.

Faleminderit.

(Applause)

(duartrokitje)