Antoine Cassar

Ċomb

Language: maltese

Translations: english (Lead), spanish (PLOMO)

Ċomb
fl-okkażjoni ta' “Operation Cast Lead”

Jixirfu minn taħt il-mejda, isorru
ftit ħwejjeġ, ftit larinġiet żejda, iġorru
lit-tifel bl-ors imħanxar fil-wejda, imorru
lejn l-għalqa għall-kenn ta’ ġol-bejta, ikorru
bil-frak tal-ħġieġ ħiereġ imħeġġeġ
mit-tifqigħa tal-moskea mejta.

Tixref minn ġod-daħna tajjar, tidwi
ħemdet żewġha wara l-istar, miksi
bit-trab qed jirtab u jiħdar, jikwi
demm binha fuq ksieħ il-liżar, li lanqas jibki
ma jiflaħ, la fommu ma jiftaħ
fil-kuritur ifur tal-isptar.

X’ħela ta’ ħin, x’ħela ta’ ħajja
x’ħela ta’ ħniena bla sliema titlajja,
mill-beraħ tas-sema, mill-wesgħa tal-bajja
bombi taċ-ċomb minn ġo tombla ġarrajja,
battalja battala bla tpattija tissajja:
duħħan ġo duħħan, tbajja’ fuq tbajja’.

Translations:

Language: english

Lead
on the occasion of “Operation Cast Lead”

They come out from under the table, gather

a few clothes, a few extra oranges, carry

their boy with the headless bear in his hand, leave

toward the shelter of their hut in the field, are wounded

by the burning fragments of glass

exploded from the dead mosque.

She comes out of the cotton-like smoke, her

husband’s silence echoing behind her veil, covered

in dust turning soft and green, the blood

of her son burns on the cold of the sheet,

with no strength to cry, nor to open his mouth

in the overflowing corridor of the hospital.

Such a waste of time, such a waste of life

such a waste of pity relentlessly postponed,

from the open skies, from the breadth of the bay

bombs of lead from a long-threaded lottery,

a futile battle where revenge awaits not:

smoke in smoke, stains upon stains.

Language: spanish

PLOMO
En la ocasión de “Operación Plomo Fundido”

Salen de debajo de la mesa, recogen
alguna ropa, alguna naranja de sobra, llevan
al niño con el osito decapitado en la mano, parten
hacia el cobijo de la casita en el campo, se hieren
por los trozos de cristal calcinado
explotados de la mezquita muerta.

Sale del humo algodonado, reverbera
el silencio de su marido debajo del velo, cubierto
de polvo que se ablanda y se verdece, abrasa
la sangre de su hijo en el frío de la sábana, que no tiene
ni fuerzas para llorar, ni para abrir la boca
en el pasillo desbordante del hospital.

Qué desperdicio de tiempo, qué desperdicio de vida,
qué desperdicio de piedad implacablemente pospuesta,
desde lo abierto del cielo, desde lo ancho de la bahía
bombas de plomo de una enhebrada lotería,
batalla baladí sin venganza en acecho:
humo en el humo, manchas sobre manchas.

Antoine Cassar

* 22.06.1978, London, United Kingdom
lives in: Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Antoine Cassar was born on June 22, 1978 in London to Maltese parents. Cassar grew up and studied in England, Malta, Spain, Italy and France.

Beyond his monolingual Maltese poetry, Cassar is the author of Mużajk, a work in progress braiding together the sounds and cadences of different tongues into a fluid rhythm and a coherent stream of thought. Written mainly in a blend of English, French, Italian, Maltese and Spanish (in no particular order), and later sowing in other languages according to the subject, the mużajki or mosaics journey through a variety of themes, among them the pleasure and futility of living, love unrequited or fulfilled, the beauty of the Mediterranean, the absurdity of colonialism and its after-effects, and the at once exhilarating and disorienting feeling of variety itself.

The first series of Cassar's “mosaics” appeared, together with a number of poems in Maltese, in the anthology Ħbula stirati (Tightropes) in 2007. A handful of mosaics have also appeared in publications in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Kuwait, Australia, and the U.S. Cassar has taken part in a number of European poetry festivals, including the Københavns Poesifestival, the Festival de Poesía de la Mediterrània of Palma de Mallorca, and the Poesiefestival Berlin.

Antoine Cassar lives in Luxembourg, where he works as a translator.

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Translations:

Leadon the occasion of “Operation Cast Lead”

PLOMOEn la ocasión de “Operación Plomo Fundido”

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Lead
on the occasion of “Operation Cast Lead”

PLOMO
En la ocasión de “Operación Plomo Fundido”