Maria Grech Ganado
английский
Iċ-Ċimiterju ta’ Arlington, Virginia
F’din l-ewwel skola fil-miftuħ li qatt żort
hawn il-bankijiet u l-istudenti kwieti u ggalbati
imqegħdin f’ringieli kważi perfetti.
Is-skiet mhuwiex żball, jew passività,
jew ingratitudni lejn l-għalliema.
Li kellhom jitgħallmu tgħallmuh,
u issa jisktu huma biex nitgħallmu aħna
li nduru u nħufu f’dawn il-klassijiet moderni
mingħajr ħjiel, kieku ma jgħidulniex ta’ qabilna,
li sibna ruħna fl-aħjar skola possibbli.
Uħud mill-ex-alumni għandhom bank
ikbar minn ta’ sħabhom
imma l-biċċa l-kbira laħqu ’ndunaw bid-differenza fil-qisien
u għamlu bank bħal tas-soltu,
kemm kemm joqgħod ġisem ta’ bniedem
u post fejn tħarbex xi ħaġa.
Arlington jgħallmuk kollox f’daqqa
u mbagħad ma jkollokx għalfejn issaqsi aktar.
The Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia
In this first open air school I’ve ever visited
there are desks and students who are quiet and diligent,
placed in rows that are almost perfect.
But the silence is no coincidence,
or passivity, or thanklessness or the teacher.
What they needed to learn they have learnt,
and they are silent now, so we can learn,
we who wander around these modern classrooms,
searching without a clue - unless given one by our ancestors -
to how we found ourselves in the best possible school.
Some of the ex-alumni have a desk
that is larger than that of their classmates
but the majority seems to have noticed this discrepancy in time
and had their desk cut down to size,
just big enough for a person’s body
and some space to scribble on.
At Arlington they teach you everything at once
and after that, there's nothing left to ask.