Amira Rammah
Amira Rammah (poet, translator) received a BA in English Language and Literature, and pursued an MA in Cross Cultural Studies both from Institut Supérieur des Langues de Tunis (University of Carthage). In 2014, she was selected to participate in the Fulbright program as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant of the Arabic language at the University of Iowa. She holds an MFA in literary translation from the University of Iowa. She translates from Arabic and French and is currently a visiting instructor for Arabic at the University of Iowa.
Amira Rammah este poetă și traducătoare. Este licențiață în limba și literatura engleză a Institutului superior de limbi străine din Tunisia (Universitatea din Cartagina), unde a și urmat un masterat de Studii Interculturale. În 2014, a fost selectată să participe la programul Fulbright, în calitate de asistent universitar de limbă arabă, la Universitatea din Iowa. A absolvit un masterat în traducere literară la aceeași universitate. Traduce din limba arabă și franceză și este în prezent asistent universitar invitat al Universității din Iowa, unde predă limba arabă.
Jane's Sonnet to a Mouth
Cantador(a)
Jane’s Sonnet to a Mouth
we proceed in omission
down from the platform of ideas
the sound of the tongue and jaws
a movable theory of the lungs
we force in the thrill of the palate
to come in closer contact
before a mirror the lips object
for the right to excess and access
the utility of belonging cannot depend
upon talking about space
at the back of the apolitical neck
we place a hand within the hollow
have the mouth make a speech
on life’s necessities
Cantador(a)
Whether male or female
this occurs in outer life
An incident, odd of some sort
jumps and tries to make us forget.
L was brought up in nature
memory is of the absolute
irrevocable kinship with the wild,
something some from neglect call ghostly
What do we do with over domestication?
This taste that comes through
visions and sights
beauty and abject from the woodland.
What substance are we made of?
Here, a book on the mystic cookbook,
says the witch.
Traducere din limba engleză de Diana Geacăr
Sonetul lui Jane pentru gură
înaintăm prin omisiune
coborând de pe scena de idei
sunetul limbii și al făcilor
o teorie fluidă a plămânilor
injectăm cu fiori bolta palatină
pentru o mai strânsă legătură
în fața oglinzii buzele protestează
pentru dreptul la excese și accese
avantajul integrării nu poate să depindă
de discuțiile despre spațiu
pe ceafa gâtului apolitic
ne punem o mână peste scobitură
și lăsăm gura să țină un discurs
despre nevoile vieții
Cantador(a)
Fie bărbat, fie femeie
asta i se întâmplă în viața exterioară
O întâmplare, oarecum ciudată,
se năpustește și încearcă să ne facă să uităm.
L a fost crescut în natură
Memoria are o legătură
sigură și rezistentă cu sălbăticia,
dar unii, din ignoranță, o numesc fantomatică.
Ce ne facem cu îmblânzirea în exces?
Prin vise și peisaje se strecoară
gustul ăsta pentru
frumusețea și mizeria pădurii.
Din ce substanță suntem făcuți?
Uite, ia o carte mistică de bucate,
spune vrăjitoarea.
Poetry in Three Acts
Poetry in three acts
Act I
Apart from these –
that is prior to and apart from free play identical with the harmonies of polkas,
the harmonies beyond blue notes marches and waltzes
do not exist in this form in the tonal relationship of the whole remain
such combinations occur as ordered and neat as one could desire
run parallel to and are
synchronized with harmonic developments.
Act II
Neatly folded into a square Neatly folded into square Neatly folded into a square
inside the car is transparent inside the car is transparent inside the car is transparent
airmail paper resembling airmail paper resembling airmail paper resembling
the tracing paper I use the tracing paper I use the tracing paper I use
for copying and memorizing for copying and memorizing for copying and memorizing
sheets for geography tests. sheets for geography tests. sheets for geography tests.
i unfold it. Repeat. i unfold it. Repeat. i unfold it. Repeat.
Act III
Under an umbrella the claim:
It never cakes or hardens in any kind of weather.
chemistry worked the image
“persists”
drawn from the table below
sodium injected into their veins their veins
“alive”
while most are intensely trained in the act of hydrating
“people via the vein”
“the vein”
who feels qualified to disperse
a grin with a swath of milk
“advice”
let's hit a nearly identical pose
a can of coke next to the slogan
precise rates of sodium calibrations
outside of hospitals, there is chaos.
The premise was straightforward
“drink more water, more water to drink,”
which may or may not be the reason
some artfully deflected questions on the subject of soda
“we’re being completely positive”
It’s a misconception that I’ve found
it perpetuates a long held misunderstanding
it annoys and infuriates
“athletic training education”
It’s (not) a good rule of thumb.
Song of ZO
a great performance
by all
creates and holds time
D put it this way to J
earlier take articulates the sound of “m”
frankly fascinating this evolution of consonants
gloves are off in this song
have it come as magical and mysterious
it has to do with being
joey is marvellous but some got caught in mind chatter
kick up some dust
look up some said
moving back and forth between tenors and tenses
not that it’s untrue that his eyes held the sun
O’Hara can tell us perhaps more about this
puffed observation odd you might add
quintessential tempo
rehearsals often speak with awe
so powerful the absence of the vocal shudders
tracing road images through the song
unique sounds brought back from an old world
versions of relative loudness of vowels
what would lives be without stories
x is out of breath
yesterday tastes of serendipity
zoom in and out? some ask about today
Post Scriptum
I almost heard the white stone crack
when on a summer day, the wind blew from the North
I thought I heard a rustling sound of soft tree leaves
Veins, thick. Life
Greener after the fact.