THE ROCK
Translated by me from the Pilipino translation of Roberto Anonuevo
of Immanuel Mifsud’s poem in Slovak
There’s a rock that I pray you’d keep.
It is hidden inside my chest, aching.
I long for you to take it, make it a flower,
to furnish it with the colors of your form.
This rock sheds tears at sunset
and becomes increasingly very heavy,
heavier with blood, heavier with anguish,
and heavier with shortening breath.
It is waiting for you to walk by,
waiting for the weight of your naked feet,
and knees upon it, to kiss your knees,
for the day when you will possess the rock.
Ruth Mostrales
March 1, 2010
– – –
ANG BATO
salin sa tula ng makatang Slovak Immanuel Mifsud
salin sa eleganteng Filipino ng makatang si Roberto Anonuevo
May isang bato na ibig kong itago mo.
Nakatago ito sa aking dibdib na kumikirot.
Ibig kong kunin mo iyon, gawing bulaklak
upang bigyan ng mga kulay ng iyong anyo.
Lumuluha ang bato tuwing takipsilim
at bumibigat nang bumibigat nang lubos,
bumibigat sa dugo, bumibigat sa pighati,
at bumibigat sa umiikling paghinga.
Hinihintay nito ang iyong pagdalaw.
Hinihintay yapakan ng hubad mong paa’t
luhuran, nang mahagkan ang iyong tuhod
para sa araw na aangkinin mo ang bato.
http://alimbukad.com/2010/02/26/mga-tula-ng-paglalakbay-ni-immanuel-mifsud/
What a beautiful poem….thanks for sharing it with me.
i was enthralled by the translation in Filipino by Mr. Anonuevo of Immanuel Mifsud’s poem so I tried doing it in English.
you’re most welcome, slpmartin. 🙂
Isang tagay sa iyo, Ruth, at natutuwa ako dahil nababaliw ka na rin sa tula. Ipagpatuloy ang mabuting simulain.
Medyo lumuwag lang po ang turnilyo ko ngayon dahil maliban sa dalawang pagsusulit, wala na po akong klase at ako po’y nagkaroon ng mas maraming oras upang magsulat nang magsulat at magbasa ng mga aklat.
Kung ang pagkahumaling po sa pagsusulat ay magandang bagay, nais ko pong magpatuloy ito habang ako’y nabubuhay. 🙂
Salamat po sa inyong permiso na ipaskil ko ang inyong tula sa aking blog.
Pingback: Ang Bato / The Stone « pakpak at marami pang iba…
Hello Ruth,
what an interesting surprise it is to see one of Immanuel Mifsud’s poems being translated to Pilipino and back to English. Just for your information, Immanuel Mifsud is one of the leading poets from the current generation of Maltese writers. That poem was originally written in Maltese and published in Immanuel Mifsud’s collection KM (2005). You can access Immanuel Mifsud’s personal website at http://www.immanuelmifsud.com. I would be very interested, if it is possible, to read the Slovak translation of the poem.
Thanks for sharing, and thanks in anticipation should you be able to forward the Slovak translation. Thanks also for the link to the Pilipino version, of which, I presume, Mr Mifsud himself was totally unaware.
Dear Stella,
Wow, that was nice! Thank you so much for the information. I was looking for the translation of his poem in English but I wasn’t able to find it, so I tried to write my own. I checked out his website which you gave, and there, I found it. I read it and re-read it. Thanks again.
I don’t know about the Slovak translation, though. I haven’t heard of Mr. Mifsud until I read http://alimbukad.com/2010/02/26/mga-tula-ng-paglalakbay-ni-immanuel-mifsud/. Do email Mr. Anonuevo at alimbukad@yahoo.com, though. I think he might be able to give you a link.
Thank you so much and more power.
ruth
Dear Ruth,
many thanks for your email. I will write Mr Anoneuvo. I’ve spoken to Manuel and he himself was pleasantly surprised.
With affection
stella