Today I want to share an exercise in poetry translation with you. When I’m not writing, I’m usually translating in order to keep me on my toes. I’ve found myself thinking a lot about this poem by Ingeborg Bachmann, originally published in 1953. Its prescience to the current state of the world hardly needs expounding. I’m presenting you here with the original German poem first and my translation second.
Alle Tage
Der Krieg wird nicht mehr erklärt,
sondern fortgesetzt. Das Unerhörte
ist alltäglich geworden. Der Held
bleibt den Kämpfen fern. Der Schwache
ist in die Feuerzonen gerückt.
Die Uniform des Tages ist die Geduld,
die Auszeichnung der armselige Stern
der Hoffnung über dem Herzen.
Many of you will probably already be aware of the decision made by the UK supreme court to legally define the term “woman” based on “biological sex”. The way that this has been framed as a decision worth celebrating in outlets such as the BBC and the Guardian is loathsome, but expected.
She had always loved the ocean. From where she sat, perched precariously on the platform dangling from the side of the snow white cliffs she could see the waves lapping against the rock on windy days, the ocean slowly consuming the land and taking it away in its gentle caress. In a few hundred, maybe a thousand years, the ocean would have seduced the land at last and taken every piece of it into its endless depths. She would have to find a new job when that happened.
Today is Trans Day of Visibility and I thought I’d share my TDOV poem from last year, because I had no place to put it then and I quite like it. To all my trans friends, lovers, and favorites: Be proud of who you are and what you had to do to get here. This world is better off with you all in it <3