translated from the Maltese by Ruth Ward

 

I’m a stone but at night I turn into a woman:
A face is born, arms and a pair of legs.
I go forth in the dark, as I need no light to make my way—
which I know well: through the breath
I exhale, inhale; the breath that
moves, moves me, lifts me
to that summit where no one approaches.
I alone can reach this place,
as only I can see it.

 


 

Ġebla

 

Jien ġebla, ’mma billejl ninbidel f’mara:  
jitwieled wiċċ, dirgħajn u par riġlejn; 
nimxi fid-dlam—m’għandix bżonn dawl biex nimxi 
triqti magħrufa minn ġewwa—bin-nifs 
li niġbed, bin-nifs li narmi, bin-nifs 
li jiċċaqlaq, li jċaqlaqni, jeħodni 
lejn dak l-imkien fejn ħadd aktar ma jersaq. 
Jien biss nifhem dal-post għax jien biss nagħrfu.  

Copyright © 2025 by Immanuel Mifsud. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 10, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.