ቀሰማት / COLORS

Author(s): ከሰሰሞን ደሬሳ, Solomon Deressa and Bahrnegash Bellete

Source: Callaloo, Vol. 33, No. 1, ETHIOPIA: Literature, Art & Culture (Spring, 2010), p. 42
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40732789
Accessed: 10-04-2022 18:11 UTC

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 COLORS

MM»*} £¿<! by Solomon Deressa

Hereafter,
MH? ¿EIA ít¿<'n* when beads bedazzling, Atété manifests
u-ncr) ?<ì<ì ^¿vn-fl pc&i'î let's re-occult her behind drapes shearer
than light,
hAft: hVC ?¿¿ and spread fresh grass and colors to re-
flect the beads

-n<rU íi^í hoop, ?vm¿ Satin, more exacting than silk

dark brown, comelier than coffee
gleaming yellow, purer than the sun
¿¿V*C ¿,4*71 h¿^T ?<M grey, paler than rancor
where white and black bleed into each
other
míC T*Cí UCT) M£<? ?1¿
crimson, redder than embers
?fo£(DÏ hl<t>&(' -Í1A¿ tó-taA,
cultured lavender, purer than eternity
¿VTf-íl cn&r hhtfah ?t^iA
jet black, to quench and tame the light
the cradle of life, algae green
!t¿v: ÏCDtâï h9°M' VIO
mellow brown, distilled from the yolk -
0¿: Í?A°: 7-?047?: ^°P¿V: W
sapphire pearl, tear drops of heaven
ultramarine, Gondarine folds of the Ma-
-nene aaçí hèft hh<'<b <t>tnï donna's cape
beige, taupe, fawn, russet, ruddy
Calm this side of movement, speed be-
yond speed -
Infinities of colors outstripping enumera-
tion.

As with ornate basketry, penetrating

rushes jostle
for the Divine Feminine, the tale sub-
sumes Truth -
spring, summer, fall, winter...
as if a lifetime would for a life suffice.

- translated by Bahrnegash Bellete

Callaloo 33.1 (2010) 42

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