1.
Lone tree, on a rock by Liakhvi,
You stand, clothed in tatters, –
Ole,
Ole,
Solitary,
All day and through long nights;
Inside something is burning you –
Poisoned by loneliness,
From inside you have split outward,
Your bark cracked and flaking.
You have grown both straight and crooked
A tree – yet so tiny.
You stand alone, like a gallows,
You – stifled by mountains!
You resemble a hanged eagle,
Your long smashed wings dangling.
You are a nailed-down Pegasus
Unable to lift off;
Blasted by lightning and thunder
You stand, solitary.
2.
Your mind sees the axes coming,
Hurricanes to leave you crippled,
Embittered, and trembling.
Skies dark, in revolt, turn on you,
Hailstones and snow flashing,
You stand, but your bones have melted,
Solitary Ole!
The sea sends a salt wind at you
And clouds circle round you,
Coiling in the sky, the lightning
Turns toward you, hisses, strikes,
The fangs of wind,
Thunder noises
Trying to uproot you!
Your eyes, scratched by icicle points,
No longer see azure,
And sharpened spearpoints of raindrops
Make your heart their target;
The sun, furious fire setter,
Glares down, leaves you smoking
Skin blacked, crackled,
Ravaged, old and
Solitary
Ole!
3.
You are alone, and stand alone,
No brother, no mother,
But March will sew you a chokha
Smartly decorated.
Let your hair be combed by rainfall,
And for milk sip dewdrops….
Stars of the spring constellations
Sitting on your branches
Play from sheer joy the sakravi;
When you hear the golden voices,
Eyes closed, but still seeing –
No one is lonelier than you
No one ever could be,
You, column of tears, of wormwood,
Metamorphosed, Ole.
4.
Who is the one you are seeking,
The one your heart aches for?
To whose light are your limbs waving –
Whose ears do you sing for?
Perhaps it’s one who grew weary,
One too weak to hurry,
One who could not come Saturday
But may come on Sunday!
Perhaps your loved one was poisoned
Secretly – arsenic,
And an empty blouse is blowing
Up the road, storm driven!
Friend, it is time to go looking,
Time for a search party,
Send someone who will call to you
Your little name – Ole!
Greenmantled, the forest calls you,
And the stream, hair tufted;
So long the forest has waited
Waving its hands, thousands.
Contending armies have swept clean
The forest that calls you,
And a strong man from Arkhoti
Rotates a dark iron.
To swing alone will best suit you –
I’ll hold the door open!
Let the wind embrace your shoulders
The wind and its echoes.
Come, let me give my bread to you –
So long since you’ve eaten,
Come and let me hold you
Hold you –
Lamb found by its shepherd!
Come and let me make you happy
A wife to share bed with
You, so long cursed, struck by thunder,
Solitary Ole!
5.
But your golden head, turned upward,
Now sees a sky darkened,
Puffy black clouds loom above you,
Castles with tall towers.
Puffy clouds point the way higher,
Your own skyward ladder,
And skylarks will drape over you
Your brocades and satins.
The sun, more crimson than coral,
Brings to you its greeting,
Touching your roots with its kisses,
Its heart your heart drawing.
Falling stars descend upon you,
Tambourine and drumbeat,
Time for you to blow the bagpipe
Time to play the goli,
They say:
No more colds, no more aching,
No more chills and fever,
Warm as branch with branch embraces,
Solitary Ole.
6.
Ole,
Ole,
By Liakhvi
I watched you that moment:
Inside, something was burning you,
Poisoned by loneliness
From inside, stratum by stratum,
Split layer by layer,
Bark opened by pecking ravens,
A tree – yet so tiny!
*
High above the sky was sparkling,
Below – the Caucasus.
You resemble a hanged eagle,
Your mangled wings dangling…
You, nailed to the earth, Pegasus,
Tear yourself loose, lift off –
From the swaddles of solitude
Step away free, Ole!
Say to them:
If my heart was aching,
Now it aches no longer.
In the milky foam of Liakhvi
You’ll be a raft, floating,
I’ll hew you and I’ll sculpture you
Like finest cut glassware,
In my hall you will be welcomed
As the central pillar,
You will head the long flotilla,
The trees’ supreme leader!
7.
Now come to me
Before thunder
Strikes you,
Leaves you smoking
Blackened, crackled,
Ravaged, old and
Solitary
Ole!
(Giorgi Leonidze)
More Poetry from Giorgi Leonidze:
Giorgi Leonidze Poems based on Topics: Light, Kiss, Time, Mothers, Nature, Loneliness, Solitude, Friendship, Brothers, Leadership, Parties- Once More Meeting The Kipchak (Giorgi Leonidze Poems)
- I Sing To My Country (Giorgi Leonidze Poems)
- Georgian Language (Giorgi Leonidze Poems)
- Self-Portrait (Giorgi Leonidze Poems)
- To Nina Chavchavadze (Giorgi Leonidze Poems)
- The Black Oak By The Black Sea (Giorgi Leonidze Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Light Poems, Time Poems, Nature Poems, Friendship Poems, Spring Poems, Mothers Poems, Hair Poems, Brothers Poems, Kiss Poems, Solitude PoemsBased on Keywords: brocades, tambourine, puffy, colds, rainfall, bagpipe, arsenic, metamorphosed, flaking, blacked, stratum