Poetry

By

Sevarion Nadiradze

Thousands of Wars

The sun warm with Don Quixote’s helmet

Keeps riding the Rocinante horse,

The wound is never gone, it’s always there,

Even if you win a thousand wars…

What if the sun shuddered suddenly?

Sun warmed for us, and full of pride,

We trench around our lovely streets,

With tombs, as if digging our own graves.

I hide my sparrows deep in my bosom,

Not to be hobbled or put into irons,

Don’t scare much our harmless city

With barricades here and there.

The sun heated with Don Quixote’s helmet

Keeps riding the Rosnante horse

The wound is never gone, it’s always there,

Even if you win a thousand wars.

A Clown

He will make faces and tousle hair,

Will present his heart as an easy toy to youth,

Will never call for monsters from darkness,

Dotard, a master of hurly-burly.

Maestro wrapped in colorful rags,

Bending and smiling to circus fans,

Chandelier lights snatch away his eyesight,

He faces his destiny as a prodigal son.

He will perform a lowly pauper,

Remind Adam’s folks about the human pride,

He will arrange his rags, stand straight,

And count ten on his shaggy fingers.

Children will guess what the old man is about,

No need to search the idea’s depth,

When the lame performs his farewell dance,

The mask-men cheer a man wearing a mask

Funny Tricks

The sun will go fishing in the morning,

Carry a folded cloud like a fishnet,

Metekhi Cliff will cast the line,

And hang Tbilisi up like an old rod over the river.

We will get tired of catching carp fish,

I know some funny fishing tricks,

And soon will hook these gorgeous balcony houses

On rod like floats and let them drift.

I was born in this city of poetry,

Raise my hands and pray for this turquoise sky,

Now the sun will spread a fishnet,

And soak its feet in the waters of Mtkvari.

The sun will go fishing in the morning,

Carry a folded cloud like a fishnet,

Metekhi Cliff will cast the line,

And hang Tbilisi up like an old rod over the river.

Sevarion Nadiradze

Writer Sevarion Nadiradze was born in Tbilisi in 1962. He graduated from Tbilisi State University, philological department. His literary activities started from a young age: his poems were published in Georgia and abroad. In 1989 Sevarion published his first book of poetry ‘Two Shores’. This was followed by poetry collection ‘Monologue of Winter’ in 2002,  consisting of three poems: ‘Abel, Cain’s brother’, ‘Star and Magi’, and ‘Starting in Our Hearts and Finishing in Love’. In 2003 the author’s first novel, ‘The Way of Flour’ was published. This was followed by the poetry collection ‘Poems Left in Shadow’ in 2005, with his second novel ‘Khaki Color Yashmak’ appearing in 2008. The latest poetic collection ‘A Poem, White Chit’ was published in 2013. In 2009,was awarded the Prize of the First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Roelofs, as a winner of the Shotaoba contest. The magazine ‘Our Writers’ named Sevarion Nadirdze the Poet of the Year.