Ciao amore ciao


Adagio, a tuo agio, il festeggiar d'un bacio,
tbissima lewn ix-xemx, turisti f'art il-ħolm,
arc-en-ciel, que tu es belle!, deux corps qui font une ombre,
si scioglie la mia lingua, e chiudo gli occhi, e taccio...

mais, vrai, j'ai trop pleuré! Bufera a fine maggio,
de rigueur, le malheur, perduto ormai l'amor,
old and cold, my soul sold, the seams of dreams untold,
e il cuore disseccato in un tubo da saggio.

Ahimè, me equivoqué, faccio un auto da fé,
una rosa è una rosa, ma tu sei una sposa,
u għad ninsa, għad ninsa t-togħma ta' ġildtek ħalib il-mogħża...

papillon de janvier, laissons-le, ça y est,
colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado,
my friend, this is the end, adieu, ho abdicato.

© Antoine Cassar
Extraído de: Mużajk. An Exploration in Multilingual Verse
Edizzjoni Skarta, 2008
Produção de áudio: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin 2009

Bye love bye


Slowly, at your leisure, the feast of a kiss,
a smile the colour of the sun, tourists in the land of dreams,
rainbow, how beautiful you are!, two bodies casting one shadow,
my tounge/my language melts, and I close my eyes, and I fall silent;

but, it's true, I've wept too much! A storm at the end of May,
by default, unhappiness, now that love is lost;
old and cold, my soul sold, the seams of dreams untold,
and the heart dissected in a test tube.

Alas, I was mistaken, I make an auto-da-fe,
a rose is a rose, but you are a spouse,
and I'll yet forget, I'll yet forget the taste of your goat-milk skin...

January butterfly, let's leave it, it's over,
colorín colorado, this story is finished,
my friend, this is the end, goodbye, I have abdicated.

Translated by Antoine Cassar