Once, my father told me to speak
English as Tarzan.
We were laughing
but all understood me.
Once, when I got old
You told me that
I do not need to speak English.
I did not laugh
and I still do not know English.
You should not have said that
because now that you are not there
I'll kill you in English letters
like a Brooklyn seller of fish
kills his miserable sacrifice
which does not stop moving;
until I stop writing
in a language I do not know
or until you forget to read.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Engleski Jezik
Jednom davno otac mi
je rekao da govorim
engleski kao Tarzan.
Smijali smo se
a mene su razumjeli.
Jednom kad sam ostario
ti si mi rekla da
ne treba da govorim engleski.
Nisam se smijao
a i dalje ne znam engleski.
Nije trebalo da to govoriš
jer sada kad te nema
ubijaću te engleskom slovima
kao što bruklinski prodavac ribe
ubija svoju nestašnu žrtvu
koja ne prestaje da se miče;
sve dok ne prestanem da pišem
na jeziku koga ne znam
ili dok ti ne zaboraviš da čitaš.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem