POETRY

poems of the month

rejoice in the dog

millennium maggot

dispatches from the war against the world

french poems

the hells
going on

suicide for
non-beginners

fearful symmetry

book disease

foreground
trouble

the transcendental hotel

cinema of the blind

lament of the earth mother

uranian poems

haiku by okami

haiku on the edge

black hole of your heart

jung's motel

vasko popa

BETWEEN POETRY AND PROSE

maxims

PROSE

houses for the dead

womb of half-fogged mirrors

overcoming tourism

anti-fairy tales

this sorry scheme of things

satan in the groin

irish genius

egregious.org

an albanian ikon ?

albanian
donkeys

feedback

from
an Albanian reader:

"Thank you very much for your respect toward my country and my people.

As an Albanian I feel happy when foreign poets respect my country.

All the best to you."

Erketa Premti

LAKURIQËSI NAKEDNESS

Për bukurí, nuk për turp
Beautifully, not shamefully

Ëmbëlsisht, rrëmbimthi
Sweetly, impulsively

Ujku, për së lárgu, për së gjáti
Wolf, from afar, lengthwise, slowly

Njëri ndër poetët më të mëdhenj
One of the greatest poets

Njëri ndër më hutuari, më të tjetër
One of the most confused, the most other

Mjekëra me e shndritshme në mal
The brightest beard in the forest

Veçse sillej poshtë e lart.
Only wandered up and down.

Më mirë të vdesësh një ditë sesa përditë. Përnatë.
Better to die one day than every day. Every night.

Edhe në ftjesha, méndje s’ma vë dot njeri në gjumë
Even if I sleep, no-one will put mind to sleep

Dhjelpra, kur iu dogj bishti, mendoi se gjithë bota kishte marrë sjarrë
When the fox’s tail was alight he thought the whole world was burning

Kujtime më të lodhurat.
The tiredest memories.

Gjirokast ë r, southern Albania

ZHVARROSUR DISINTERRED in memoriam Enver Hoxha
Rreth e rreth	All around
Varg e varg	In a row
Natë e ditë	Night and day
Fund e krye	Tip to toe
Hundë e buzë	Flat on your face
Poshtë e lart	Up and down
Dimë e verë	Winter and summer
Në radhë të parë	In the first place
Kot më kot	In vain
Breg më breg	From hill to hill
Degë më degë	From branch to branch
Shpat më shpat	From slope to slope
Shtëg më shtëg	From path to path
Shpresë më shpresë	From hope to hope
Skaj më skaj	From corner to corner
Javë për javë	Every week
Dorë për dorë	Hand in hand
Kokë për kokë	Head to head
Gju më gju	Knee to knee
Sy më sy	Eye to eye
Faqë më faqë	Cheek to cheek
Gojë më gojë	Mouth to mouth
Buzë më buzë	Lip to lip
Fjalë për fjalë	Word for word
Dhembjë më dhembjë	Pain to pain
Gjak për gjak	Blood for blood
Sy më breg	Eye to hill
Kot më kot	All in vain

PLANET E SOTME
TODAY’S PLANS

Për të shtypur kokën e fluturës
To rack the butterfly's brains

Tani hamë drekë Now we eat lunch
  Pastaj Then

Nesenmë duhesh do të të therras
If I need you I’ll call you

Po qe se vjenti vij edhë unë
If you come, I’ll go, too

Nëse shkojnë e vijnë
Days come and go

Në kaltërsinë e pyllit
Into the blue of the forest

Nëpër qiellin e zi
Through the black sky

Flutura eshtë nën tryezë
The butterfly is under the table

Nuk kam ngrënë që dje
I haven’t eaten since yesterday

Sa herë që vij te ti
Whenever I come to you

Ndihem mirë (përvec…)
I feel good (except…)

Deri nëser Until tomorrow
Vdekje Death

Click on this image to go to
an Albanian archæological web-site

PAQËNDRUESHME

In the world we've turned to misery
beauty is unbearable.

EMIGRATION

How much better is it to be hated
as an American
than as an Albanian ?

AFTER THE REVOLUTION
(1994)

Under the terrible dictatorship
we knew we had no freedom
to speak or to publish,
and we thought
we had freedom of thought
and imagination.
We could eat and drink frugally, quietly,
be quietly proud of our frugal lives,
and think ourselves modestly
self-sufficient.
We did with so little for so long
that we thought we could do anything
with nothing.

Today we realise that our imaginations
were stringless kites.
Because of the dictatorship
we are poor and unwrought.
We don't know what to think
in a world of multiple pollutions and corruption
where everything is bought
- even despised asceticism.
We have no faith in our truncated
sneered-at, jeered-at nation.
Those of us who dare to think
think secretly that there is no such thing
as freedom of thought.

There were no tourists before,
but now they come, under the new dispensation,
like old men's dribbles without let or hindrance,
not to admire the unravaged landscape but to pity
and savour our demoralisation.

SHQIPËRIË E ABSOLUTE
Absolute Eagledom, March 1997

"Absolute Anarchy,"
the blow-in correspondents trilled.
"No rule of law."
The missionaries and minor Mafia fled
their easy pickings and told lurid tales,
but the Deputy Director of Prisons (himself
a political prisoner for 16 years) said
how proud he felt that Albania was the first
European state with empty gaols.

The correspondents knew not one word
of our ancient and eclectic language,
did not mention that half our little craggy land
was seized by Serbs and Greeks
when the benign Turks pulled out,
said nothing of the coup d'état by Zog,
the Italian annexation and the Greek attempt
to annexe even more.
They said the usual little
about the paranoid dictatorship of Enver
which locked us fast
in aspic, as it were. Top reporters came
to wring their silky hands, and sneer, be shot at,
and leave for somewhere else to be aghast.

MAN'S DIRTY SLATE

Yesterday the sodden trudge
Today the paper crayoned black
Tomorrow the burnt
and blackened house

Next week the child will
draw her home
as it was before the burning
With the dog

abandoned of course.

" Culture is war"
"All dogs are heroes"
In man's unremitting conflict
against nature, I too
am a conscript war-criminal.

click here to see

Albanian donkeys

Click on this image to go to an Albanian
archæological web-site.