Located at the intersection of regional roads to Pazin, Kanfanar, Svetvincenat and Labin, Zminj is a small town in Istria, Croatia.
Zminj Library is a most beautiful historic house in town. There I met librarian and dedicated poet Nada Galant.
Over the years, Galant published four books of her poems written in Zminj Chakavian dialect, a dialect only use by a community of less than 4,000 people.
National Geographic report Enduring Voices says, “By 2100, more than half of the 7,000 languages spoken on Earth – many of them not yet recorded – may disappear…”
DANAS JE TA DAN is one of Nada’s poems loved by her daughter Ana Galant, a student of Comparative Literature and big fan of mom.
I asked Ana for a literal translation of DANAS JE TA DAN into English.
Here is the beautiful Nada – Ana Duo
Today is the day – by Nada Galant / English translation by Ana Galant
If there is any whole pocket left,
We should unfold it and stack
In front of us everything that’s in it
Today is the day
(breadcrumbs will be good for the birds, everything else – we can do without)
Today is the day
If we could only find the doors through
which we passed so cursorily
Then we could go back, not backwards,
to slowly and thoroughly,
From scratch,
Be a child, a grandchild, a friend…
Be everything once again
Not so much to change things,
But to slowly be and not run away
Today is that day,
And where was I looking?
To read a copy of the untranslated poem, you may contact Sindy Chan at chansindy.cd@gmail.com
Related
-
Melbourne’s Irish festival is back with St. Patrick’s Day at P.J.O’Brien’s
St Patrick’s Day is fast approaching and Australia’s leading Irish pub P.J.O’Brien’s is hosting the biggest party in Melbourne on Friday 17 March. Whether there is proud Irish lineage to… Continue reading
-
This St Patrick’s Day, Australia’s Most Popular New Irish Whiskey is Making a Splash!
Since making it’s way down under just over a year ago, Teeling Whiskey has become the fastest growing Irish whiskey brand in the country. Shooting into the spotlight after winning… Continue reading
-
From our Egyptian Bureau
EGX30 index forecast to hit 14,000 pts Ahmed Kamel The main index may test 14,000 points this week as the bull market continues, spearheaded by non-Arabs. Egypt’s big caps, led… Continue reading
About Margaret Gregory
Margaret began writing at high school, and wrote on and off while working to attain a Master of Science degree. After working as an analytical chemist for ten years, participating in activities with the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard and raising a family, she moved on to study writing and editing, and achieve a Diploma in Library and Information services. She entered her first novel The Wild One in the Fellowship of Australian Writers Jim Hamilton Award (2011) and received a highly commended, this award being for an unpublished novel of sustained quality. Now with her boys grown up, she has begun to rewrite her early novels. Editor in Chief and Science Editor for The Australia Times, she lives with her three men in Melbourne, Australia, in a house with a metal roof that is used as a runway by possums.
Profile: View Tim's profile here
