Umarming der Meridiane
Hin und her
Her und hin
Wo bin ich zu Haus
In zwei Sprachen bildet sich der Satz
In zwei Welten greifen die Hände
Im Traum spricht in Deutsch mit mir die Mutter
In Arabisch mein sächsisch Weib
Von Meridian zu Meridian
Leichtfüßig springen meine Träume
Weiten sich aus meines Baumes Zweige
Und jede Blüte trägt die Tätowierung
Alvertrauter Sonnenkarawanen
Die durchpulsen meines Baumes Adern
Ach
Meridiane ihr
Zweige von eichen und
Von Olivenbäumen
Umarmt euch fester
Und fester
In mir
Translations of this Poem
Embrace of the Meridians
Translator: Suhayl Saadi
Back and forth
Back and forth
Where am I at home?
In two languages, the sentence forms
From two worlds, the hands gather
In dream, my mother speaks with me in Deutsch
My Saxon wife, in Arabic
From meridian to meridian
With winged feet, my visions leap
And spring from the branches of my sapling
Each blossom bears the tattoo
Of sand-traced sun caravans
Which flow up through my tree’s limbs
O
Meridians you
Branches
Oak and olive
Embrace each other tightly
And more tightly yet
In me.
About this poem
M/Other Tongues, a poetry event which took place at the Scottish Poetry Library from 28 February to 2 March 2002, brought to Scotland two poets writing in German although it is not their mother tongue: Adel Karascholi from Syria, who has lived in Leipzig since the early '60s, and Dragica Rajčić from Croatia, who has lived in Switzerland since the outbreak of war in the former Yugoslavia.
They were paired with two Scottish poets who have also lived between two languages and/or cultures: Suhayl Saadi of Pakistani/Afghani descent who lives in Glasgow, and Christopher Whyte, of Irish descent, who writes in Scottish Gaelic and lives in Edinburgh.
