Poem by Dritëro Agolli translated by Kristi Bojdani

The Seagull

We found a seagull lying on the wet sand,
She had broken her leg under the fragile knee,
She was alone in the middle of the seashore.
She was abandoned and no one was waiting for her.

We brought the seagull into our room,
And she became used to us, like a family member.
But from the windows she would look at the furious surf,
And the foaming waves rising in the midst of the angry storm.

The seagull lived for a very long time in our room,
But one day we couldn’t find her.
A day when the sea would devour the wet sand,
A day when storms were coming.

And we went to look for her in the sea
When waves clashed heads like bulls,
When the wind and the clouds would moan,
And we found the seagull lying dead.

We saw her!
She had opened her wings in the clammy sand.
We saw her!
Maybe she didn’t want to die in that room.



Pulëbardha

Pulbardhen në rërën e lagur e gjetëm,
E kishte thyer këmbën nën gjurin e brishtë.
E kishin lënë shoqet në bregun e detit vetëm.
E kishin lënë e askush nuk e priste.

Pulbardhen në dhomën tonë e shpumë
E u mesua me ne si njeriu i shtëpisë.
Vec nga dritarja shikonte detin me shkumë
Dhe valën që ngrihej mes shiut dhe stuhisë.

Jetoi pulbardha shumë në dhomë
Po humnbi papritur një ditë,
Një ditë kur deti hidhej mbi rërën e njomë
Një ditë kur vinin stuhitë.

Dhe shkuam në det ta kerkonim,
Kur vala me valën si deshtë kokat kishin përpjekur
Dhe era dhe retë rënkonin
Dhe e gjetëm pulbardhën të vdekur…

E pamë!
Kishte hapur krahët e bardhë në rërën e njomë
E pamë!
Ndofta nuk donte të vdiste në dhomë…

poem by Dritëro Agolli (b. 1931), translated from the Albanian by Kristi Bojdani