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  • The poem, and: Remember me
  • Bewketu Seyoum (bio)
    Translated by Cheryl Moskowitz (bio)

The poem

So long as there is an Alexander the Great next doorwho sees a weapon in the cup he drinks fromI shall not be moved by the anti-gun cheerleaderswith their innocent smilesI shall not invite white dovesto hover over my pillowI shall not throw my armorinto the trash.

So long as there is a woman next doorwho sees a jug for drawing waterin the fallen cannon shellI shall not panicwhen the war drums soundI will not despairwhen the army startsits goose step.

Remember me

When the night is stilland you overhear through your bedroom windowa footstep fade [End Page 100] like the last raindrop from the sky,remember me.When the moon is lowhanging like a white nest on the edge of the universeand your heartis filled with an unexplained joy,remember me.In a life ringed by thornswhen you glimpse the rose beds,remember me. [End Page 101]

Bewketu Seyoum

Bewketu Seyoum was born in Gojjam, Ethiopia. He studied psychology at Addis Ababa University and published his first poetry collection, Nurari Alba Gojowoch (Unmanned Houses) shortly after graduating. He is also a popular novelist and short story writer, with publications including Berari Kiteloch (Winged Leaves), Enklif ena Edme (Age and Sleep), and Megbatna Mewtat (In and Out). Bewketu represented Ethiopia at the 2012 Poetry Parnassus for the London Olympics. His stories and poems have been published in World Literature Today and Modern Poetry in Translation.

Cheryl Moskowitz

Cheryl Moskowitz is a US-born, UK-based poet, novelist, playwright, and translator. Her publications include the novel Wyoming Trail (Granta) and the poetry collection The Girl Is Smiling (Circle Time P). She has won prizes in the International Bridport, Troubadour Poetry, the Kent and Sussex poetry competitions, and the 2011 and 2013 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine. She began translating Bewketu Seyoum’s work in 2007, after spending some time in Ethiopia.

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