Poems by Rusudan Megrelishvili
translated by Kevin Tuite
I.
tu k'i chemi t'rpobis santels ver anteb
If you cannot light with love
the candle of my affections,
why then blow it out?
Why hurry, slaked and satisfied?
This barren pilgrim's light
is not all.
Pay the price.
Go, try your luck.
Leaving a woman's impression
before his eyes forever,
the woman blows out:
Anna, with a ring,
a gold encirclement,
dead from doubt.
They stand apart - two shadows,
church bells,
cross,
gold heart in white fabric,
bouquet,
dead face,
eyes lit up by candle's beam.
Melt away!
Melt and end,
leaving love's impression.
She endures much: the woman with a ring.
II.
shevel mzis skhivit dach'ril momak'wdav p'ark'shi
I went in.
The park was dying,
cut by a sunbeam.
Beauty sparkled. Colorful
and dreamlike wonder
carried me away,
bore me up. A yellow wind,
autumn's path like seventh heaven
spread, unfolded.
It was dying,
cut by a sunbeam.
A long while pleasure looked at me,
and, across the park, that which I had
was all used up, wiped away.
III.
This life in half-twilight goes
es tskhovreba bindbundad midis
bustles
mishrialebs
waits for its distant shadow
shoreul oreuls utsdis
rustles
shrialebs
cures
iarebs
hurts
ishushebs
and again
da isev
goes. Bustles
midis. mishrialebs
rarely
ishviatad
erupts
amokhetkavs
thumps
petkavs
and again goes. Bustles
da isev midis. mishrialebs
naked.
shishveli
You become naked.
shishveldebi da
You feel
ggonia
a distant shadow
shoreuli oreuli
waits for you
gitsdis
helps you.
gishvelis.
IV.
In the
bare mountains rises up
a tale
from a dream
chanting
is heard
on the
rocks singing
Dormition
Cathedral
wine-colored
leaves have fallen
melted
together against cold earth
a yellow
forest bouquet
faded
to red
black
fir trees in rays of green
and the
sky, armor-plated,
drizzles
tearfully
takes leave of us
broken-down
autumn
from
Safara Road we take our leave
the church
no longer visible
in ashen
grey
our shelter
is lost
a rumbling
is heard by the tired Mt'k'vari
the mountains
shudder
at Vardzia
she prays for her army
bare-foot
Queen Tamar
V. molisper gzebs miq'vebian
on grass-green paths they go,
pearl-colored
spread like new snow
white daisies
army comes
under a daisy sun it is white white May
in the Imeretian mountains
rose-month is a white month
in the Imeretian mountains whitely throbs Imereti
in a downpour of daisies
VI.
saghamo xans
didxans didxans
Evening time long time long time
baghis suntkvas
garden breathes
ca utkmeli
q'urs ugdebda mc'uxtan
sky unspeaking listens with sorrow
q'vavilnari
stvlemda
flower-bed dozes
k'ip'arisi
sdumda
cypress is mute
mxolod sxivi
chamavali
Only a ray from the setting sun
dghis dak'argvas
sc'uxda
regrets the loss of day
VII.
if you
truly wish to make me happy
please
don't bring my sky blue dream
down
to me from heaven
just
leave it alone