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ALBANIAN POEMS
by

UJKO BYK
translated by Anthony Weir

more albanian pages

POETRY
poems of the month
fish
vagabondage
measuring my face
ostracism
old clothes
modern iranian poems
my hero
face at the bottom of the world
perhaps (maybe)
the diogenes sequence
where to store furs
i am and am not:
fragments of rumi

DHE JETES I AFROHET FUNDI

AND LIFE APPROACHES ITS END
Ik e ik
Knga e Muks
Muri luan
Burri s'luan

On and on
The same old tale:
A wall may give way
A man may not

Bota vuan. The world suffers on.

destiny and destination

the zen of no-enlightenment
the iraqi monologues
already backwards
a light in ruins

DERI VON
TILL LATE

separate amputations
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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separate amputations
the sexy jihad

Ndaj t gdhir Towards the dawn

awaiting the barbarians

the smell of possibilities
ultimate leaves

Pa natn Nightless
Me lajmet With news

rejoice in the dog

post-millennium maggot

Ato biseduan pr "pushimet" They talked about "the holidays"

the book of nothing

dispatches from the war against
the world
albanian poems
french poems in honour of jean
genet
the hells going on
the joy of suicide
book disease

Kjo dhurat sht pr ty This present is for you

Q te zhvillosh To develop
Me an t vetvrasjes Through suicide
Sic kane thene njerezie e mencur: permasat nuk kane rendesi.
As the wise have said, size doesn't matter.
Nuk jam as n toke dhe as n qiell.
I am neither on the earth nor in the sky.

foreground trouble
the transcendental hotel

Kliko ktu pr versionin e mikpritjes.

Click here for hospitable version.

cinema of the blind

lament of the earth mother
uranian poems
haikai by okami
haikai on the edge
black hole of your heart

BTA GABON
THE WORLD MAKES MISTAKES

jung's motel
leda and the swan
confession from belgrade
gloss on rilke's
ninth duino elegy
jewels and shit:
poems by rimbaud
villon's dialogue with his heart

S rishmi Once again

Sidomos nesr Especially tomorrow
N vend t autopsikografis
In lieu of autopsychography

vasko popa:
a shepherd of wolves ?
the rubiyt of omar khayym
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

Pzull Adrift

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genrikh sapgir:
an ironic mystic
the love of pierre de ronsard

Fjala e fundit e bots. The world's last word.

Shkruaj n shenj: Write to me as a sign:

imagepoem
Gjuha shqipe nuk sht aq e vshtir.
TRANSLATIONS

Albanian isn't that difficult a language

ALBANIAN: poems of love & dissent

CHINESE: Li-Po
DANISH: Stuckenberg
FRENCH: Rimbaud
.................Ronsard
.................Verlaine
.................Villon
GERMAN: Brecht
..................Enzensberger

BETWEEN POETRY AND

PROSE
good riddance to mankind

SADO-NGADO
ADVERBS

SHKAT RROJ I unravel, I destroy

the maxims of michel de

montaigne
400 revolutionary maxims
nice men and

Fatkeqsisht Unluckily
Rrmbimthi Drivenly

suicide of an alien
anti-fairy tales

Barkazi Crawlingly

the most terrible event in history

the rich man and the leper
disgusting

Fshehtazi Secretly
Gjersisht Lengthily

art, truth and bafflement

Majtazi On the left
SHORT STORIES

Djathtazi On the right

godpieces
Me t eger Wildly
the

three bears

three albanian tales

Kalimthi In passing

odorous underwear
a little creation story

Dita-dits Day by day

Parreshtur Non-stop

ESSAYS & MEMOIRS

the ivory palace

http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

Nga viti n vit From year to year

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the ivory palace

helen's tower

Nga viti n vit From year to year

Paqene Undoglike

schopenhauer for muthafuckas

are doctors autistic ?

Ngado Anywhere

single track in the snow

Sado No matter how
never a pygmy
against money
did franco die ?
'original sin' followed by
crippled consciousness
a gay man's guide to soft-willy
sex
the holosensual alternative

VARG VERSE
Urdhro ? What can I do for you ?

tiger wine
the death of poetry
the absinthe drinker

Krejt: Everything:
M plqen jetshkrim... I like biography...

with mrs dalloway in ukraine

love and hell
masturbation

Porosit patjetr Order by any means

Shpejt Quickly

running on emptiness
a holocaust near you

Zarfa Envelopes...

a note on the cathars

Nj kilo kumbulla, A kilo of plums
happiness
londons of the mind
& dealing death to the caspian
genocide
a muezzin from the tower of
darkness

Raki, zhvillim Raki, development

Vetvrasje Suicide
Por s'ka gj But it doesn't matter

kegan and kagan

being or television

Vrtet... Really...

satan in the groin

womb of half-fogged mirrors
tourism and terrorism
the dog from sinope
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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the dog from sinope

shoplifting
in britain & america
this sorry scheme of things

LAKURIQSI NAKEDNESS
Pr bukur, nuk sht pr turp
Beautifully, not shamefully

the bektashi dervishes

mblsisht, rrmbimthi
Sweetly, impulsively

a holy dog
& a dog-headed saint

Ujku, pr s lrgu, pr s gjti

Wolf, from afar, lengthwise, slowly

fools for nothingness

death of a bestseller
vacuum of desire: a homo-erotic
correspondence

Njri ndr poett m t mdhenj

One of the greatest poets
Njri ndr m i hutuari dhe m i huaji
One of the most confused, the most other

a note on beards
translation and the oulipo

PHOTOGRAPHS
prelude

Mjekra me e shndritshme n mal

The brightest beard in the forest
Vese sillej posht e lart.
Only wandered up and down.
M mir t vdessh nj dit sesa prdit. Prnat.
Better to die one day than every day. Every night.
Edhe n fjetsha, mndjen s'ma v dot njeri n gjum
Even if I sleep, no-one will put mind to sleep
Dhjelpra, kur iu dogj bishti, mendoi se gjith bota kishte marr zjarr
When the fox's tail was alight he thought the whole world was burning
Kujtimet m t lodhura.
The tiredest memories.

field guide to megalithic ireland

houses for the dead
ireland & the phallic continuum
the sheela-na-gig conundrum
french megaliths
a small town in france

Gjirokastr, southern Albania

click the picture for more photographs on another website

western values

ZHVARROSUR
DISINTERRED
in memoriam Enver Hoxha
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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in memoriam Enver Hoxha

the problems of translating poetry

Rreth e rreth All around

an albanian ikon ?
albanian donkeys
the bektashi dervishes

Varg e varg In a row

Nat e dit Night and day

poems by ujko BYK

albanian love-poems

Fund e krye Tip to toe

albanian poems of dissidence

Hund e buz Flat on your face
albanian poems of exile
recent albanian poems

Posht e lart Up and down

albanian emigration
beyond the albanian experience
migjeni

Dimr e ver Winter and summer

N radh t par In the first place

horatio morpurgo's albanian trip

albanian short stories

Kot m kot In vain

map of albania
Breg m breg From hill to hill
the dictator's library
Deg m deg From branch to branch
Shpat m shpat From slope to slope
Shteg m shteg From path to path
combatting
normality

Shpres m shpres From hope to hope

Skaj m skaj From corner to corner

a canadian-albanian film

Jav pr jav Every week

Dor pr dor Hand in hand
Kok pr kok Head to head
Gju m gju Knee to knee
Sy m sy Eye to eye

http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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Sy m sy Eye to eye
about the "sworn virgins" of
northern albania
Filmi kanadezo-shqiptar,
Gruaja pa krah'
sapo ka fituar mimin e
argjendt Remi Award',
si pjesmarrs n Houston
Worldfest 2003' n Teksas.

ShareThis

Faqe m faqe Cheek to cheek

Goj m goj Mouth to mouth
Buz m buz Lip to lip
Fjal pr fjal Word for word
Dhembje m dhembje Pain to pain
Gjak pr gjak Blood for blood
Sy m breg Eye to hill

Google Search

Kot m kot All in vain

this site only

the dictator's library

PSHPRT
WHISPER

Pr t zbuluar To discover
rastsisht by accident
e me te but and softly
nj fshatar a villager
i mermert: of marble:
nj shenj a sign
i mikpritjeje... of hospitality...

http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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Sa esht ora - What time is it Pikrisht ? exactly ?

Pr t kthyer nd dhet.
To return to the earth.

LODHEM S FOLURI
I GET TIRED OF TALKING
Sa her q shpreson shum, fiton m pak.
Whenever you hope for much you gain little.
Sado q ia shpjegova disa her, ai nuk e kuptoi msimin.
Although I explained it to him several times, he didn't understand the lesson.
Duke qen se ndihej i padshiruar, shkoi m hert n shtpi.
Since he felt unwanted, he went home early.
Duke mos ditur 't bnte, u ul pran televizorit.
Not knowing what to do, he sat in front of the TV.
Edhe sikur t isha i lir, nuk do t shkoja me ta.
Even if I were free, I wouldn't go with them.
Eja tek un kurdoher q ndihesh vetm.
Come to me whenever you feel lonely.
Edhe n qoft se vonohem pak, m prit se do t vij.
Even if I'm a bit late, wait for me, for I'll come.
Rrafshi sht i rrethuar me male t larta.
The plain is encircled by high mountains.
Vet e vrteta s'sht shum e fuqishme.
The truth, in truth, is not very powerful.

FYTAZI
AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS
Ishte parashikuar ne shekullin e njembedhjete
kurr leku ishte nj komoditet i rrall
q leku do t jet Perandor
dhe leku veshja e tij e re:
nj dordolec por...
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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nj dordolec por...
q na bn ne te hidhur,
na numro,
na numro... kater, pese
...numro
m numro mua midis qenit,
poezin e barit,
leshtori duket si rjet mermeri q prplitet
shum njerz, shum poema,
shum shkall, dhe jo mjaft mjekra,
shume libra.
(This is an extract from Zana Banci's Albanian translation
of POST-MILLENNIUM MAGGOT.
Click for the entire poem in English.)

PLANET E SOTME
TODAY'S PLANS
Pr t shtypur kokn e fluturs
Racking the butterfly's brains
Tani ham drek Now we eat lunch
Pastaj Then
N m duhesh do t therras
If I need you I'll call you
Po qe se vjen ti vij edh un
If you come, I'll go, too
Ditt shkojn e vijn
Days come and go
N kaltrsin e pyllit
Into the blue of the forest
Npr qiellin e zi
Through the black sky
Flutura esht nn tryez
The butterfly is under the table
Nuk kam ngrn q dje
I haven't eaten since yesterday
Sa her q vij te ti
Whenever I come to you
Ndihem mir (prvec...)
I feel good (except...)
Deri nser Until tomorrow
Vdekje Death
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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click on this image to go to

an Albanian Ottoman Architecture
website

PAQNDRUESHME
In the world we've turned to misery
beauty is unbearable.

EMIGRATION
How much better is it to be hated
as an American
than as an Albanian ?

AFTER THE REVOLUTION

(1994)
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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(1994)
Under the terrible dictatorship
we knew we had no freedom
to speak or to publish,
and we thought
we had freedom of thought
and imagination.
We could eat and drink frugally, quietly,
be quietly proud of our frugal lives,
and think ourselves modestly
self-sufficient.
We did with so little for so long
that we thought we could do anything
with nothing.
Today we realise that our imaginations
were stringless kites.
Because of the dictatorship
we are poor and unwrought.
We don't know what to think
in a world of multiple pollutions and corruption
where everything is bought
- even despised asceticism.
We have no faith in our truncated
sneered-at, jeered-at nation.
Those of us who dare to think
think secretly that there is no such thing
as freedom of thought.
There were no tourists before,
but now they come, under the new dispensation,
like old men's dribbles without let or hindrance,
not to admire the unravaged landscape but to pity
and savour our demoralisation.

SHQIPRI ABSOLUTE
Absolute Eagledom, March 1997

"Absolute Anarchy,"
the blow-in correspondents trilled.
"No rule of law."
The missionaries and minor Mafia fled
their easy pickings and told lurid tales,
but the Deputy Director of Prisons (himself
a political prisoner for 16 years) said
how proud he felt that Albania was the first
European state with empty gaols.
The correspondents knew not one word
of our ancient and eclectic language,
did not mention that half our little craggy land
was seized by Serbs and Greeks
when the benign Turks pulled out,
said nothing of the coup d'tat by Zog,
the Italian annexation and the Greek attempt
to annexe even more.
They said the usual little
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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They said the usual little

about the paranoid dictatorship of Enver
which locked us fast
in aspic, as it were. Top reporters came
to wring their silky hands, and sneer, be shot at,
and leave for somewhere else to be aghast.

MAN'S DIRTY SLATE

Refugees
Yesterday the sodden trudge
Today the paper crayoned black
Tomorrow the burnt
and blackened house
Next week the child will
draw her home
as it was before the burning
With the dog
abandoned of course.
"Culture is war"
"All dogs are heroes"
In man's unremitting conflict
against nature, I too
am a conscript war-criminal.

http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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Albanian dissident poems >>

GLOSSES ON TWO POEMS

OF THE ALBANIAN POET PETRO MARKO (1913-1991)
by
Anthony Weir

1. SUCH BURDENS ON THE MIND

"Marrezi, turp
turp dhe mkate
per jeten e trbuar..."
- APOLOGJIA IME (JETES)

Shame and rage

greed and pain:
life is a gaoler
bejewelled and vain.
Life made misery.
Life made Man.
In the wastes of desire
the grotesque can-can.
...as faliu ligjes sime,
bindu i mendur endrrtar...

'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hrte mich...?'

How can it possibly matter in which language I am unread ?
Or, even if read, not understood ?
The warmth and the words of the dead are my comfort,
the greatest intimacy our grief beyond time
and its terror and hatred and bitterness.
Along the valley of death I've always been walking
and listening to the blood-pools talking,
bones and bonfires everywhere,
black and blue and red in the air.
Poisoned the water, bitter the rain.
Life itself is in love with pain.
Our comfort-manufactured metal hearts dissolve in rust
so that 'Old myths renew as passionate as dusk.'
...t shpirtit, n nj kend,
lindi nj shqetsim
q eli varrin tnd...

If 99% of the ever-expanding Universe is unknowable

Dark Matter (The True God)
and an infinitesimal percentage of the remaining 1% is the
living matter we are so intent on corrupting and destroying,
the whole of life is the tiniest blemish
on the otherwise marvellous Universe,
http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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on the otherwise marvellous Universe,

no matter how many billions of synapses are in my brain,
no matter that life itself is in love with pain.

2. FLYING OVER EUROPE

Above us the blue.
Beneath us an old, old map.
I cannot see the borders or the armies
only rivers and forests.
The machine we are in
(eating sandwiches which taste of Treblinka and Gulag)
wipes through the mildew
wipes through the blight
of history. Those millions
of terrible events might not have happened.
But they are still happening now
out of sight, day and night.
Good news is something misreported.
________________________________________

How can it matter what language I am unread in ?

Albanian donkeys

Click on this image

to visit an Albanian
archological web-site.

http://www.beyond-the-pale.uk/albanian.htm

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Albanian Dirt: problems of translation >

FEEDBACK
from Jona in Tetov, Macedonia on 30.12.2012
sht e uditshme (dhe m shum
se sa interesante)
shtja se si rastisa tek ky ueb.
Poezit jan t jashtzakonshme!
T ndjera me thellsi m tepr se
oqeanore,
t errta n mas;
me nj doz mllefi q
shkarravitet vetm mbi vetullat e
atyre tcilve tree-like neuronet
u pshurrin do dit mbi
vetdijen, tqullosuna nga
anarkia por gjithsesi gracioze n
esenc.
Pashi ymr virtual e ju prgzoj
pr punn q bni!
Jona

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