May 31, 2016

Vergessen: Poem of the Month

In March this year, I submitted a poem in German to a monthly poetry competition called "Gedicht des Monats" at the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at University of Georgia. A few weeks later, I surprisingly received this message from the head of the department:
Dear Nasim,
Congratulations! The committee has chosen your poem “Vergessen” as the winner of the Poem of the Month competition. Please see Ms. Petti in the departmental office (Room 204) about your prize; she will need to get some information from you in order to put in a check request.

Is it OK for us to display your poem on a bulletin board in Joe Brown and on our departmental website or Facebook page?
I am not a poet by profession, but I am glad to be the winner. I was also hesitant to share the news with my friends, because I wanted to avoid any boastful pretension. But finally, I thought, since no one reads blog posts anymore, it would not be harmful to share it here after all. So, here's my poem "Vergessen," which in English means forgetting. You can also read this on the department's Facebook page.
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Vergessen

Schließlich, entschied ich mich,
dich zu vergessen
Dein Name
Wo immer ich ihn gefunden hatte
In meinen Notizen
Postkarten
Briefen
Auch in meinem Tagebuch
Seiten, gelöscht oder zerrissen

Gestern, habe ich ihr Bild von
der Wand abgehängt
Und dann leerte ich die Rahmen

Mein Plan scheiterte
Als ich versuchte
Sie aus dem Rahmen meines
Herzens zu leeren
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May 26, 2016

Bidel: I Just Recalled my Love


Dew is perished
as soon as the dawn’s veil has taken away
Companion!
I just recalled my love,
au revoir!

Tā sahar bi-parda gardad, shabnam az khod rafta ast
Al-widā' ay ham-nishīnān! delbaram āmad ba yād

تا سحر بی پرده گردد، شبنم از خود رفته است
الوداع ای هم نشینان! دلبرم آمد به یاد

Poem by Mīrzā Abdul-Qādir Bidel

(Trans. Nasim Fekrat, May 26, 2016)