Fiston Mwanza Mujila Poems

dans mon ventre se convulse un fleuve,
bougre et fainéant, sale et immense, lugubre et vilain,
un fleuve en état (avancé) de dysenterie . . .
...

in my belly there writhes a river,
wretched and lazy, vast and dirty, nasty and bleak,
a river in (advanced) state of dysentery . . .
...

Mwanza Mbala
Mwanza Nkangi
serpent mâle
serpent femelle
radié du Ciel du Sommet
pour nonchalance, doublée d'insolence
je suis devenu par le grand hasard
Mwanza Nkongolo, l'Arc-en-ciel
qui coupe le ciel en deux poires
qui arrête la pluie
et sa mégestion
...

Mwanza Mbala
Mwanza Nkangi
male serpent
female serpent
hurled from High Heaven
for nonchalance, lined with insolence
I've become by purest chance
Mwanza Nkongolo, the Rainbow
who seeks the sky in a middle ground
who stops the rain
and its mishandling
...

mon arrière-grand-père, Kaku, comme on le désignait affectueusement
avait longtemps vécu
il avait 105 ans; 120, 134, 142, 157, 169, 186, 192
peut-être même 2 siècles
mon Kaku était tellement vieillot
à telle enseigne qu'il avait cessé de compter son âge
il ne se rappelait même plus dans quel siècle il était né
mon Kaku avait l'âge du soleil
mon Kaku avait l'âge du déluge
mon Kaku, oui, mon Kaku avait l'âge du fleuve Zambèse
mon Kaku avait l'âge du Mississippi
mon Kaku avait l'âge du Danube
mon Kaku avait l'âge du chemin de fer Lubumbashi-Ilebo
mon Kaku avait l'âge de la Nouvelle Guinée (x 5)

plusieurs fois, mon Kaku souhaita crever mais la mort le boycotta
...

my great-grandfather, Kaku, as we affectionately called him
had lived for a long time
he was 105 years old; 120, 134, 142, 157, 169, 186, 192
maybe even 2 centuries of age
my Kaku was such an antique
that he had stopped counting the years
he was no longer certain even of the century in which he was born
my Kaku was as old as the sun
my Kaku was as old as the flood
my Kaku, yes, my Kaku was as old as the Zambezi River
my Kaku was as old as the Mississippi
my Kaku was as old as the Danube
my Kaku was as old as the Lubumbashi-Ilebo railroad
my Kaku was as old as New Guinea (x 5)

more than once, my Kaku had wanted to die but death had boycotted him
...

Mvidi Mukulu, the Elder Spirit, punished my Kaku with an absurdly long life
Kaku grew older, he broke down, but did not pass away for all that
he boasted he had been born in 1667, in 1756 or 1786
once, he even died for thirty minutes
and was raised from the dead as if nothing had happened

protester of the first rain, fine looking fellow
from the summit of his three centuries of age
my Kaku had the quick blood of a youngster
...

nervosité de chien (?)
le fleuve s'ennuie à longueur de journée
il pleurniche sans savoir trop pourquoi
il pleurniche depuis Babel, depuis Ya Noé et son déluge
depuis le prophète Ezéchiel, depuis la sœur Abigaël . . .
sa morve décrit une longévité absurde . . .
...

jittery like a dog (?)
bored is the river all day long
whining without knowing why
whining since Babel, since old Noah and his flood
since the prophet Ezekiel, since Sister Abigail . . .
its snot describes an absurd longevity . . .
...

nervosité de chien (?)
et la farce qui dégèle
entre deux rictus
je bazarde mon corps au premier venu
en arrière plan de ce ciel qui dégaine sa bave
enfin bref, je m'en vais aboyer avec les chiens
l'instant de l'éclipse solaire de Katako-Kombe II
...