Fame is a food that dead men eat, —
I have no stomach for such meat.
In little light and narrow room,
They eat it in the silent tomb,
With no kind voice of comrade near
To bid the feaster be of cheer.

But Friendship is a nobler thing, —
Of Friendship it is good to sing.
For truly, when a man shall end,
He lives in memory of his friend,
Who doth his better part recall
And of his fault make funeral.//



ዝናና ጓደኝነት

ዝና የሙታን ቀለብ ነውና
እንዲህ አይነት ሥጋ፣
ቦታ የለውም እኔጋ!
በዛች ብርሃን በተበደለችው
ትንሷ ደብር፣
ይበሉታል ፀጥታ
በነገሰበት መቃብር!

ከቅርብ ወዳጅ
‹‹ደስ ይላል
ውለታ መላሽ
ያርገኝ! ›› ምስጋና፣
የሆነ ወና!
ግና፣ጓደኛማችነት
ትልቅ ቦታ የሚቸረው
ነውና
ስለባንጅራ መዘመር፣
ያሻዋል ከታች መሰመር፡፡

አንድ ግለሰብ
በሞት ሲረታ፣
በርግጠኝነት በጓደኛው ትዝታ
ይኖረዋል ቦታ!
የሱን መልካምነት፣
አግዝፎ የሚያወሳልት
እንዲሁም የሚስፈፅም
የሱን ስሕተት
ግባተ መሬት!

(አውስቲን ዶብሶን/ ትርጉም ዓለም ኃይል ገ/ክርሰቶሰ)

The Eagle


He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

ንስሩ


የአባጣ ጎርባጣውን ተራራ ጎድን
ወጣ ያለውን አግጥጦ
በተቆለመሙ እጆቹ ቆንጥጦ
በዚያ ለፀሐይ
ጎረቤት በሆነው ወና ሰማይ
ደምቆ
በሰማያዊው ዳራ
ይስተዋላል ገዝፎ በሙሉ ቁመና
ክብ እንደሰራ፡፡

ታች እሱ ካለበት ከተራራው ስር
ቀለበት ቀለበት  እየሰራ
የሚተነፍሰውን ባህር
ቓኝቶ በአንክሮ
እንደመብርቅ ክንድ ተገንጥሎ
ይወርዳል ቁልቁል ተወርውሮ!

Coming out of
A nearby hut of mud
A rose bud
Used to mix with
High school
Students’ flood.

On the street
With a bow
Her I used to greet.
Drawing close
And casting an
Affectionate glance
I used to say “Hi”
Often I never
Failed to utter
“Lovely!” “Cute one!” …
In her heart a cherished
Corner to buy.
Though she was shy
Her angelic face
Smiles used to aurify.

When she comes of age
I was sure to propose to her
Though age gap could
Put us asunder
“Does that she too wonder?”
I still ponder.

One sad Saturday morning
A funeral procession
Round the hut
Drew my attention.

To her parents & siblings
And , of course,
To my hidden grief
She opted to be brief
You see
She could not tolerate
“Detained!” on her
Grade 10 certificate.

Vexed
She found it hard
To reflect
A pitch dark night
Will certainly
Cedes place to
A broad day light.

Had she managed  that
Dark moment to outgrow,
She could have
Long forgotten her sorrow.

Two decades later
Whenever I pass
By that place
I see her younger brother
With sadness stamped face!

“Suicide why?”
Is it not cruel
Inflicting
A harrowing pain
On those we
Will be survived by!

Is it not selfish
Taking our life
In to our hands
Our corporeal existence
To finish?

If we share our sorrow
Moral prop
From our confidants
We could borrow
This way
What is unbearable today
We may forget tomorrow.

Is it not better taking
The bull by the horn,
Circumventing challenges
To stand shoulder high
While many are born?///

(BY Alem Hailu G/Kristos)

-->In the past

Martin Luther King Jr
Antonio Gramsci
Were waging a fight
For the observance of
Their likes' right,
Also like Frederik Engels
Crossing-floor or
Transcending class
There were some
Who were struggling
On the side of
The oppressed mass.

Making
Proletariat internationalism
Their intent
The likes of Che Guevara
** Chi Minh ,Castro
Proved freedom fighters
Beyond the perimeter
Of their continent.

A selfless sacrifice
Was what
They were expecting
As a price.

Like Mandela's stance
"Lick not your wound"
Was what  was deemed
Sound.

Unity, genuine democracy and
Freedom was the catch word
All in one tied
By a political cord.

-->  Currently

So called politicians' intention
Is towards themselves
Drawing attention.

Fabricating a political tension
Deconstruction history
And dishing out
A scare-tactic fiction
They bring into play a given
Ethnic or religious
Group's ,once up on a time,
Suffered lance,
Their hidden selfish agenda
To advance,
Rallying the mob truth
And fiction that
Fails to balance.
Moreover for fishing
In troubled water
A hotbed they give a chance.
Optimizing own benefit
Is their price.

Self-seeking,
Triggering ethnic-conflict
Many societal-harm they inflict.

They adore blood
To flow like a flood.

Disintegration and hate speech
Is what they preach.
"Chase that religious group
And that race!"
Is what
They expect  credulous
Followers to embrace.

Machiavelli is their
Political bible
To translate into action
They make a dabble.

Subtly hacking its social fabric
To dismantle ancient Ethiopia
Its enemies and opportunists
Come up with this and that trick
That aims at dislodging
Every brick....
Time goes on tick,tick,tick
The problem reaches on its peak
Many harbor fear
They may lose
Their country Ethiopia
They hold dear
But always
When it is left with
A declared last chance
Displays Ethiopia resilience.
"Are you not like
The children of the Ethiopians to me,
Children of Israel? "
God-referred land
Stirs out from
Uncharted water
To remain grand
Though self- seeker dissidents
And only-me
Historic enemies
Fail that to understand.

Touting about

To -democracy-

taking path

Many a psychopath

In the acid-test of integrity

Proves aberrant

Exuding a political stench

To development-and- democracy

Thirsty repugnant.


A phony politician

Has a double face

Which s/he changes from

Place to place

To sweet talk

Citizens sugar-coated

Ideals to embrace.

But monster's follies

Is sure own talks to efface.


Many a political monster

Wrecks his/her share of disaster

When reason to fantasy

Cedes place,

But soon
S/he will be
Stripped of grace.

You are accused of theft
Because with beauty
Adorned to ****
Many a man's heart
You steal
With which
On your diary
You want to  make
A little hill!