QUELQUES POEMES EN ANGLAIS :
01- Saint Valentin
It’s the fourteenth of February
Lovers, every year, celebrate it
Everyone spends this day
With the loved one
A long time ago it was the tradition
Of Valentin and Valentine
Everybody his own path
All look for something
Trying to find the symbol
The witness of their love
Young and old together
Shaken by this breeze
Shaken by this sensation
Towards fields we are all going
To pick flowers and roses
And to sow love inside hearts
No one should feel jealous
From love we draw only delight
And from war only the worst
Centuries have gone
But history gathered them
In annals of love
They loved each other, we named them
Their stories are still alive
Antar and Abla have been resuscitated
Chabane and Drifa Ujajih
Also Qeys and Leyla
Even Romeo and Juliet
Saâiyed and Hizya are here
And what led to exile
El Hasnaoui and Fadhma
Among them the recent one
Is the story of Ahcene and Zivka
Vicent Van Gogh the famous
His story was so moving
He saw himself underestimated
After the refusal of his beloved
He kept begging her
He cut even his own ear
Everyone offered a gift
The choice was easy for all
But me, so troubled
What is going to be my proof?
Everything I have seen
Is not worth my love
I chose many presents, at last
To offer to my sweet heart
A rose in one hand
A poem in the other
On a paper I drew her beauty
With clay I shaped her frame
On her lap I will put the whole
Then, I will have to write a book
Describing all my love
To a scenario I will fit it
And we’ll have the main roles
The fifteenth of February came
We stepped on history
On all tongues we are
Our names are here
today so clear
Remember Zivka and Ahcene
Praise to you ô Saint Valentin
Praise to you ô Saint Valentine
Praise to you ô Qeys
Praise to you ô Leila
Praise to you ô El Hasnaoui
Praise to you ô Fadhma
Praise to you ô Saaiyed
Praise to you ô Hizya
Praise to you ô Romeo
Praise to you ô Juliet
Praise to you ô Chabane
Praise to you ô Dhrifa
Praise to you ô Antar
Praise to you ô Abla
Now we are among you
Don’t deceive us
All that you endured
Is our destiny too
As wild beasts we are chased
As criminals we are damned
We are imploring your protection
Ô venerated Saints!
02- Life issues
In our life issues are various
I've picked many
And I’ve dealt with only few
Know that they came to me
Without looking for them
Fear is the biggest flaw
It cancels all aims,
Even the dearest ones
Though your desire grows
Frightened, you never take a step forward
It's easy to be mistaken
Many people are caught in this trap
Even the most skilful ones
No one can escape
Only God the holy and those who don't act.
Work is our hobby
As soon as we start it
We forget time and conflicts
Working is so good for health
Though rest doesn't kill
Discouragement and lassitude are rotten provisions
Like a shadow they follow you
Whenever you head for something
Put them off your bag
And avoid looking backward
Reasoning is something great
Nations seek for it
Nowadays it's scarce
The good and useful idea
Who is going to give it?
For so long we have waited for it
The worst feeling is jealousy
When its scales get on
It spoils everything
It has killed some and blinded others
In life it lets no harmony
Forgiveness is the best gift
Who wouldn't like it?
It unties knots, brings peace
And renders life tasteful
The nicest day is today
We want it everlasting
Because we've found what we seek
It seems as long as a century
It makes us forget our misery
The sweetest thing in life is the pure love
If you have it as your lot
Your days will flourish
Your nights will tremble
And your face will light up
These are issues I wanted to deal with
Good as well as bad ones
Everybody has a view
I have given you my own
Don't make me feel guilty
Whoever thinks differently
Has to get ready to say his idea.
03- One word
Words are like bees
They have honey and venom
Sometimes they are so sweet
Sometimes as wounding as knives
A word can bring you up
Until you reach the top
Then, you will know
Fame and wealth
Glory and power
A word can knock you down
The fall is so abrupt
That you lose everything you own
You had to turn over your tongue
Before uttering the clumsy word
A word can bother you
All of a sudden it changes your mood
In your mind you keep turning it over
Till it disturbs you
A word can be sharper than a knife
Its cutting is so aching
The liver burns
The eye is hurt with tears
All parts of the body are wounded
As if they are pierced by a sword
A word like wine or a drug
Can make you drunk
And sometimes as raging
As a stormy ocean
Your spirit gets restless
And your nights sleepless
A word can heal you
Its echo is your shadow
It gets close to you
And makes you forget your pains
Delighted, you get rid of your fears
The comforting word makes you enjoy life.
05 - Negligence
If we could make of negligence an arm
It would cause disaster
Pains and wounds
And lead us to despair and failure
No one can tolerate it
It is the ruin of all hopes
We want to keep away from it
When we see its doing
From our minds we have to chase it
Together we will succeed
Negligence is the worst flaw
It destroys castles
And devastates people
It is even merciless
Its preys are here to show
That it led their lives to wreck
Look again around you
You will notice
The huge number of victims
Many are those who fall down
Because no one supports them
And all memories are erased
Because no one recalls them
Like an illness, negligence
Kills, blinds and paralyses
Like fire stired up with hay
Or like floods devastating frontiers
The negligent should be penalized
Their judgment must be harsh
They stole, killed and destroyed
They are worse than guns and knives
Negligence appears at early hours
Like a threatening shadow
Quiet and with a firm step
It goes beyond boundaries
Quickly it reaches the fatal end
THE WATCH
The watch I offered you
Will keep informing you about time
You will hear its beating
Then, you’ll think of me
Since my heart beats similarly
Is it still working?
Or it is getting worn
Have you got it at your wrist?
Maybe you have thrown it
My story is also growing old
You must have got rid of it
I accept what may come
For I can’t stop
Things from worsening
We saw our dearest wishes
One after the other vanishing
You let them escape
My eyes couldn’t catch them
You hold the scales on your own
Being judge and judged
Know that in full audience
The rights of each are guaranteed
Once the verdict is retuned
Sorrow and remorse will be your penalties
How could you forget me?
We had too many discussions
We shared all our passions
But you believed in odd thoughts
To such a point that you got lost
We lost the battle
And we are both hurt
Yet, you can let truth spring
I was searching for it
I won’t accept it
Unless you tell it
22 - Heartless
Don’t think that,
Like all beings,
I have a heart
I made of mine a cemetery
In each grave I buried
My misfortunes and misery
Without my heart
My body is in peace at last
No beats and no feelings
Like a fool
On my way I always stroll
In the middle of nights
I hear sounds of steps
Then I take off my cloth
And I watch the corners
I realise that I am alone
In darkness lasting long
But, sometimes, my spirit is crowded
A man comes to me
As a beggar asking me for charity
Another holds a stick
He wants to guide me
And another advises me
For years and years
They’ve disappeared from my sight
I thought that they were
All eaten by worms
But they were carefully
Planning their return
Tonight these ghosts
Have really resuscitated!
Ten mills are set going
Each grinding something
I’m the miller sifting
The remains of the grounds seeds
At the end of the chore
I’m run over by the rolls
When the mill stops
I’m nearly dying
But still conscious with my heart beating
All neighbours come in haste
To show me
Their compassion and pleasure
At seeing me alive
I’ve undergone the roll’s trial
To which I’ve survived
Taken from the second poems’ book entitled CONFIDENCE AND MEMORIES
Translated into English by Dalila AIT SALEM .
The original version by: Ahcene Mariche
It’s the fourteenth of February
Lovers, every year, celebrate it
Everyone spends this day
With the loved one
A long time ago it was the tradition
Of Valentin and Valentine
Everybody his own path
All look for something
Trying to find the symbol
The witness of their love
Young and old together
Shaken by this breeze
Shaken by this sensation
Towards fields we are all going
To pick flowers and roses
And to sow love inside hearts
No one should feel jealous
From love we draw only delight
And from war only the worst
Centuries have gone
But history gathered them
In annals of love
They loved each other, we named them
Their stories are still alive
Antar and Abla have been resuscitated
Chabane and Drifa Ujajih
Also Qeys and Leyla
Even Romeo and Juliet
Saâiyed and Hizya are here
And what led to exile
El Hasnaoui and Fadhma
Among them the recent one
Is the story of Ahcene and Zivka
Vicent Van Gogh the famous
His story was so moving
He saw himself underestimated
After the refusal of his beloved
He kept begging her
He cut even his own ear
Everyone offered a gift
The choice was easy for all
But me, so troubled
What is going to be my proof?
Everything I have seen
Is not worth my love
I chose many presents, at last
To offer to my sweet heart
A rose in one hand
A poem in the other
On a paper I drew her beauty
With clay I shaped her frame
On her lap I will put the whole
Then, I will have to write a book
Describing all my love
To a scenario I will fit it
And we’ll have the main roles
The fifteenth of February came
We stepped on history
On all tongues we are
Our names are here
today so clear
Remember Zivka and Ahcene
Praise to you ô Saint Valentin
Praise to you ô Saint Valentine
Praise to you ô Qeys
Praise to you ô Leila
Praise to you ô El Hasnaoui
Praise to you ô Fadhma
Praise to you ô Saaiyed
Praise to you ô Hizya
Praise to you ô Romeo
Praise to you ô Juliet
Praise to you ô Chabane
Praise to you ô Dhrifa
Praise to you ô Antar
Praise to you ô Abla
Now we are among you
Don’t deceive us
All that you endured
Is our destiny too
As wild beasts we are chased
As criminals we are damned
We are imploring your protection
Ô venerated Saints!
02- Life issues
In our life issues are various
I've picked many
And I’ve dealt with only few
Know that they came to me
Without looking for them
Fear is the biggest flaw
It cancels all aims,
Even the dearest ones
Though your desire grows
Frightened, you never take a step forward
It's easy to be mistaken
Many people are caught in this trap
Even the most skilful ones
No one can escape
Only God the holy and those who don't act.
Work is our hobby
As soon as we start it
We forget time and conflicts
Working is so good for health
Though rest doesn't kill
Discouragement and lassitude are rotten provisions
Like a shadow they follow you
Whenever you head for something
Put them off your bag
And avoid looking backward
Reasoning is something great
Nations seek for it
Nowadays it's scarce
The good and useful idea
Who is going to give it?
For so long we have waited for it
The worst feeling is jealousy
When its scales get on
It spoils everything
It has killed some and blinded others
In life it lets no harmony
Forgiveness is the best gift
Who wouldn't like it?
It unties knots, brings peace
And renders life tasteful
The nicest day is today
We want it everlasting
Because we've found what we seek
It seems as long as a century
It makes us forget our misery
The sweetest thing in life is the pure love
If you have it as your lot
Your days will flourish
Your nights will tremble
And your face will light up
These are issues I wanted to deal with
Good as well as bad ones
Everybody has a view
I have given you my own
Don't make me feel guilty
Whoever thinks differently
Has to get ready to say his idea.
03- One word
Words are like bees
They have honey and venom
Sometimes they are so sweet
Sometimes as wounding as knives
A word can bring you up
Until you reach the top
Then, you will know
Fame and wealth
Glory and power
A word can knock you down
The fall is so abrupt
That you lose everything you own
You had to turn over your tongue
Before uttering the clumsy word
A word can bother you
All of a sudden it changes your mood
In your mind you keep turning it over
Till it disturbs you
A word can be sharper than a knife
Its cutting is so aching
The liver burns
The eye is hurt with tears
All parts of the body are wounded
As if they are pierced by a sword
A word like wine or a drug
Can make you drunk
And sometimes as raging
As a stormy ocean
Your spirit gets restless
And your nights sleepless
A word can heal you
Its echo is your shadow
It gets close to you
And makes you forget your pains
Delighted, you get rid of your fears
The comforting word makes you enjoy life.
05 - Negligence
If we could make of negligence an arm
It would cause disaster
Pains and wounds
And lead us to despair and failure
No one can tolerate it
It is the ruin of all hopes
We want to keep away from it
When we see its doing
From our minds we have to chase it
Together we will succeed
Negligence is the worst flaw
It destroys castles
And devastates people
It is even merciless
Its preys are here to show
That it led their lives to wreck
Look again around you
You will notice
The huge number of victims
Many are those who fall down
Because no one supports them
And all memories are erased
Because no one recalls them
Like an illness, negligence
Kills, blinds and paralyses
Like fire stired up with hay
Or like floods devastating frontiers
The negligent should be penalized
Their judgment must be harsh
They stole, killed and destroyed
They are worse than guns and knives
Negligence appears at early hours
Like a threatening shadow
Quiet and with a firm step
It goes beyond boundaries
Quickly it reaches the fatal end
THE WATCH
The watch I offered you
Will keep informing you about time
You will hear its beating
Then, you’ll think of me
Since my heart beats similarly
Is it still working?
Or it is getting worn
Have you got it at your wrist?
Maybe you have thrown it
My story is also growing old
You must have got rid of it
I accept what may come
For I can’t stop
Things from worsening
We saw our dearest wishes
One after the other vanishing
You let them escape
My eyes couldn’t catch them
You hold the scales on your own
Being judge and judged
Know that in full audience
The rights of each are guaranteed
Once the verdict is retuned
Sorrow and remorse will be your penalties
How could you forget me?
We had too many discussions
We shared all our passions
But you believed in odd thoughts
To such a point that you got lost
We lost the battle
And we are both hurt
Yet, you can let truth spring
I was searching for it
I won’t accept it
Unless you tell it
22 - Heartless
Don’t think that,
Like all beings,
I have a heart
I made of mine a cemetery
In each grave I buried
My misfortunes and misery
Without my heart
My body is in peace at last
No beats and no feelings
Like a fool
On my way I always stroll
In the middle of nights
I hear sounds of steps
Then I take off my cloth
And I watch the corners
I realise that I am alone
In darkness lasting long
But, sometimes, my spirit is crowded
A man comes to me
As a beggar asking me for charity
Another holds a stick
He wants to guide me
And another advises me
For years and years
They’ve disappeared from my sight
I thought that they were
All eaten by worms
But they were carefully
Planning their return
Tonight these ghosts
Have really resuscitated!
Ten mills are set going
Each grinding something
I’m the miller sifting
The remains of the grounds seeds
At the end of the chore
I’m run over by the rolls
When the mill stops
I’m nearly dying
But still conscious with my heart beating
All neighbours come in haste
To show me
Their compassion and pleasure
At seeing me alive
I’ve undergone the roll’s trial
To which I’ve survived
Taken from the second poems’ book entitled CONFIDENCE AND MEMORIES
Translated into English by Dalila AIT SALEM .
The original version by: Ahcene Mariche
http://ahcenemariche.centerblog.net
www.ahcenemariche.net
