Ewe (Ghana)
The bird that saw sings
Tseutse’s child is dead
She should eat, they say
I don’t want to eat, she says
God himself greeted them
And said, she should eat
But Tseutse refused and said:
I’ll never eat
Then earth greeted them
and said she should eat
But Tseutse said never will I eat
Foufou she desired
but said to eat she doesn’t want
the mush was her desire
but said to eat wouldn’t want
And yet stole the ripe fruit and ate them
-translated to French by Tristan Tzara; translated to English by Pierre Joris
4X1: Works by Tristan Tzara, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jean-Pierre Duprey, and Habib Tengour
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