Għera

 

“Leħen il-Malti” is a yearly publication by Għaqda tal-Malti – Università. This literary society and its annual journal were founded in 1931 by Rużar Briffa and Ġużé Bonnici, two medical undergrads with a love for the Maltese language who would eventually become leading figures in the history of Maltese literature. Leħen il-Malti is still going strong, publishing prose, poetry and academic articles by young and/or emerging writers, alongside pieces by more established authors. 

Alas, last week I was informed that neither of the two poems I submitted for this year’s edition was accepted for publication.  Rejection naturally brings disappointment, but I’m still thankful that pieces of mine were included in the past three years, and happy to learn that works by authors I admire (some of whom are also friends) will be featured in the forthcoming edition.

In my view, there’s little point to writing if it is not shared, so here’s Għera (“Nakedness”), one of the two poems, finding a home on this blog.   The illustration I chose is a painting by English artist Joshua Goodfellow.  It’s called “Room” and is taken from the painter’s series “The Uncanny”. I think it fits the mood of the poem - a bit weird, surreal but also strangely hopeful. 

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Għera

 

F’nofs ta’ lejl stenbaħt,

qomt,

qaxxart id-daqna folta,

xagħri wkoll.

Ħwejġi kollha nżajt

u għeri ħriġt niġġerra

mat-triqat tal-belt.

 

Ħasbuni li żmagajt,

li moħħi mar,

li l-ġenn infirex fija.

Malajr wissew lill-kbar,

għattew għajnejn it-tfal,

u x’ħin laħquni,

bla damu xejn qafluni

ġo sala antisettika ta’ sptar.

 

Staqsewni jien min jien.

Tbissimt, għax indunajt

li anke ismi kont insejt warajja d-dar,

kobba f’kantuniera

mal-ħwejjeġ fl-art mormija.

 

Ħarsti 'l fuq erfajt

u lmaħt ix-xemx dehbija

traxxax wegħda ta’ jum ġdid.

Rasi baxxejt,

nirċievi l-Magħmudija.