Tag: poem

Condega Arsenio for a late afternoon smoke

Have a Cigar: Condega Serie F Arsenio

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Name: Condega Serie F Arsenio

Country: Nicaragua

Shape: Parejo

Size: (5 1/2 inches x 50)

Strength: Medium

I’m smoking a working-class man’s cigar
on the terrace,
drinking,
thinking about the past
and the masks I had to wear
to get here,
to a place so near
to the stars…

I’m thinking about my father
and how he would have enjoyed smoking cigars
and drinking beer
with me.
He would have been proud…

I believe I’m where I want to be,
but there are other places I need to be.
There are all sorts of hats I need to wear,
all sorts of shoes I need to fill,
and so on,
and so forth.
And there are dreams I need to kill,
all sorts of destinies I need to fulfill,
and so on,
and so on forever, it seems.

Smoking a cigar on the terrace,
I’m texting a friend
whose cigar didn’t burn as well as mine
today.
And doesn’t this remind me of
something incomprehensible called
luck,
and how lucky I am to possess it?

I’m getting hints of earth.
I’m thinking, “I’ll get a lot of it
when they finally bury me.”
I’m getting hints of maple and honey.
This is how sweet life tastes right now.

And now and then, tonight,
I’m refilling my glass,
and I will do so until
I have no more dreams to kill
and no more to remember,
until it’s time for me to sleep.

La Aroma Del Caribe Mi Amor Robusto

Have a Cigar: La Aroma Del Caribe Mi Amor Robusto

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Name: La Aroma Del Caribe Mi Amor Robusto

Country: Nicaragua

Size: Robusto (5 inches x 50)

Strength: Medium to Full

There will be good days, and there will be bad days.
Sometimes, you’ll experience success; other times, you’ll experience failure.

As it is wearily sung in the chorus of one of the best songs
of The Rolling Stones, “You can’t
always get what you want.”
No, you can’t always get what you want.
And whether you’re a stoic or not, you’ll have to accept that
sooner or later.

You have the power to make things happen,
to change something in the world,
to change the whole world.
However, when you’re out there trying hard,
remember that
while you try to make things happen,
things will happen to you, too.
Before you change the world,
the world might change you.

“Alone” by Yeghia Demirjibashian

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Yeghia Demirjibashian (1851-1908) was an Armenian writer, poet, and philosopher. This is my translation of “Alone” from Armenian to English.

Alone

The years that are behind me,
With their bitter memories of happiness,
Torment me.
The years that are ahead of me,
With their horrible vistas of madness,
Petrify me.

The old years took everything!
They took everything with them.
The new years will bring me nothing!
They’ll bring new perplexities to my mind,
New disappointments to my heart,
And new mists to my soul.
Bearing bad news, they always come in a hurry,
And they leave ever so slowly.

I’m burdened with the passing
Of new years, which are already old now.
The beds were covered, one by one;
The plates were removed, one by one;
And the voices faded, one by one.
And there’s only one bed in my home now,
And one plate on the dining table,
And not even an echo of a lively voice.

I eat my food, and my food eats me.
I go from room to room, while ghosts
wander in the rooms of my head.
And on the walls that are as white as shrouds,
The shadows of my loved ones and the ghosts
Of my most cherished years wander.
The merciless good old years
Keep bringing forth radiant scenes of happiness
now lost.
And the years that are to come
fill my soul with black,
black trembling.