Bernez Tangi

bretonisch

John Irons

englisch

DIWALL ! OSPITAL !

Prenestroù an ospital
da skeiñ, da skeiñ da benn dall

Me ’m eus ur c’hoar en oabl
dimezet eo ga’n nabab

Klask a rez ster ar gerioù
ba’ geriadur an nozioù

pa vin kozh
diouzh an noz
me a c’hoario

Erru eo poent al louzeier
uhel an heol er parkeier

Un dra bennak a zo fall
ba’ kevredigezh ar c’hig-sall

Ur rozenn war ur bern teil
troit, troit ma meilh

pa vin kozh
diouzh an noz
me a c’hoario

Marmouzed gwisket e gwenn
gant tog an urzh war o fenn

Ba’ palez ar prokulor
eo bet ganet va fulor

Bet on bet war korf ma roched
ba’ rouantelezh an Abred

pa vin kozh
diouzh an noz
me a c’hoario

Kapoioù kaouedoù houarn
strinkelloù en o daouarn

Va mestrez n’eo ket medisin
’n he heñchoù hi he deus bezhin

Treset eo itron ar melchon
war daoulagad ar merion

pa vin kozh
diouzh an noz
me a c’hoario

© Bernez Tangi

[my love nobody knows how in earlier lives]

my love nobody knows how in earlier lives
we passed each other by in the street or just missed the bus
in which one of us sat or in which you were my sister my mother
and we weren't meant to meet because

of differences in age or beliefs maybe the space
between us was as concrete as a continent once
perhaps I was busy discovering ways
of starting a fire while you and your lover

were lighting candles on the other side of the ocean
am I holding you too tightly I'm sorry I don't want to crush
you but am happy and sad at the same time

that there will never be more between us
than this universe in which we cannot come together
because it is too small for the grief of two becoming one

my love let time prise us apart when one by one we die
in this life we'll retaliate with bridges of words

Translation by the author with the kind help of John Irons