January’s Poem of the Month comes from Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh’s recently published bilingual collection, with translations by thirteen authors, The Coast Road (2016).
Cneá
Bhris an Choirib a bruacha
aréir,
bhí tuile faoin bPóirse.
Bhagair an spéir ar maidin,
is ba dhóbair gur deineadh leircín díom
ag solas dearg tráchta.
Bhí fear cromógach suite
ar bhalla íseal,
goin ina shúile.
Ina bhaclainn, bhí eala,
sac dubh uimpi
is cneá dhearg ar a muineál bán.
from The Coast Road (2016)
by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh
Wound
The Corrib broke its banks
yesterday
flooding under the Spanish Arch.
The sky threatened the morning
and I was almost pancaked
at a red light.
A bearded man sat
on a low wall with a hurt
look in his eyes,
a swan in the crook
of his arm inside a black bag
and a red wound on her white neck.
from The Coast Road (2016)
translated by David Wheatley
