TO MY SISTER IN A WHEELCHAIR
Arbër Selmani
Certainly,
one day we will both walk together
when your feet do not feel like iron.
In the middle of the highway, at the peak of heat
we will drink the fount of the waterfall
oh, we’ll be two fools smiling at buses passing by.
Amidst plantations, probably side by side
we will dance above grapes
our feet softening over the ajvar eruption.
You remain seated in a wheelchair
to the world, you are crippled
to me and my world, suspended.
Sure,
we will buy the tickets for that movie
but we will not go, continuing the course of day by counting stray puppies
just like the neighbourhood puppies who lick your mouth every noon.
Undeniably,
one day, when your hands won’t be so shaky from
blood heat
you’ll drive a fast car.
Out at sea, scorched by God
we will swim, maybe arm to arm
we’ll allow your body to chirp like a morning bird.
You remain seated in a wheelchair
which weighs on me pain, injustice, heaviness
on me who suffocates, who can never accept, who hopes.
Your physique will be liberated, we’ll get two bicycles
going through the airy path
showing our unconditional love to all the trees of the earth.
Of course,
one day we’ll do everything siblings (who walk) do
we will pay for decorations we don’t need
we will hurt each other
we will, oh, yes we will hate weddings
there will be tears of absence
we will fall in love with the same skyscraper
comforted by loves that die unborn
we will have breakfast by the lake
skiing together, climbing to the top of the volcano.
Naturally,
you will get to know the world
you will see Iran, Japan, joy, fullness
you'll walk without me pushing you from behind
you’ll have your own amphora, your own mind
your feet will make their own steps
without my resentments, my annoyances, my pounds of psychosis.
one day we will both walk together
when your feet do not feel like iron.
In the middle of the highway, at the peak of heat
we will drink the fount of the waterfall
oh, we’ll be two fools smiling at buses passing by.
Amidst plantations, probably side by side
we will dance above grapes
our feet softening over the ajvar eruption.
You remain seated in a wheelchair
to the world, you are crippled
to me and my world, suspended.
Sure,
we will buy the tickets for that movie
but we will not go, continuing the course of day by counting stray puppies
just like the neighbourhood puppies who lick your mouth every noon.
Undeniably,
one day, when your hands won’t be so shaky from
blood heat
you’ll drive a fast car.
Out at sea, scorched by God
we will swim, maybe arm to arm
we’ll allow your body to chirp like a morning bird.
You remain seated in a wheelchair
which weighs on me pain, injustice, heaviness
on me who suffocates, who can never accept, who hopes.
Your physique will be liberated, we’ll get two bicycles
going through the airy path
showing our unconditional love to all the trees of the earth.
Of course,
one day we’ll do everything siblings (who walk) do
we will pay for decorations we don’t need
we will hurt each other
we will, oh, yes we will hate weddings
there will be tears of absence
we will fall in love with the same skyscraper
comforted by loves that die unborn
we will have breakfast by the lake
skiing together, climbing to the top of the volcano.
Naturally,
you will get to know the world
you will see Iran, Japan, joy, fullness
you'll walk without me pushing you from behind
you’ll have your own amphora, your own mind
your feet will make their own steps
without my resentments, my annoyances, my pounds of psychosis.
|
BIO:
Arbër Selmani is a journalist and poet from Kosovo. He graduated from University of Pristina. He has published four books and has participated in several literature festivals in Europe, naming POLIP – International Literature Festival in Pristina, LITERODROM – Literature Festival in Slovenia and the XV Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and Mediterranean in Rome and Thessaloniki. His poems and stories have been translated to Italian, Greek, Slovenian, German, Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian, French and lately in English for Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, Zoetic Press, Ethel Zine, The Impossible Archetype, Rhodora Magazine, York Literary Review 2022 and Changes Press. |
