Harry Josephine Giles

cleanfreesortrebuke

Translated and with a reading in the original Orkney by the author

gannet stabbing into fishless agitationconfusionwaves
silver salmonchildnothing spindancing in the mountain-banked cage
ballpoint skidflystriking off the conference table
prayers rushcrowdsearpouring out of greedyimperious snoutheads

poets tweetcreakmoaning for the social market
inches curling from the monopolisedenthralled press
bitterpoisonpus streamriver overflowing the oakless estatedominion
iceberg calfing for the shrinkwithering wandervoyage

energypower divearguing down the valley-stitching pipeline
itinerant labourer flyfleeing from the blackwater wall
old light blessing on silicon crystal
contract hewburrowsearchscraping up the cobalt scratchtracefurrow

debate whisperheard on encryptit network
crowdmassheap herded into free speech pen
earthfungusgrave and root speaking over long-hidden rhizome
trollfairyother emerging from the door in the hillbarrowknoll

barometer falling in the emptyabandoncleared buildingfarmhouse
trees breaking down the broadplain road north
ruling merchant reachstretching for a private orbit
children knocking down the gallows of the stars

juvenile gulls rejecttauntdefecating on the brows of generals
stock price slicing into heart-deep red
tower card revealed in the tenth position
sheargangs springing open the barbed wire

nationless banners liftsky the ruins
clearbrightpure blade falls for a crowning meal

---

El discurso de Nayla

solan stabban intae fyshless jabbul
siller smowt birlan i’the ben-bankit kaej
baalpynt skytan aff the konfrens taebul
geud wirds rashan oot o orafu mulls

poyits jirk-jirkan fer the soshul merkit
injes kurlan fae the bunsukken pres
etter burn lipperan the aikless lairdskip
ysberg kaafan fer the krynan vaig

fushun divan doun the glen-steekan pyplyn
navvie fleean fae the blakwatter waa
aald likht benison on silikon kirstal
kontrak howkan ap the kobalt skart

thriepan harkit on enkriptit netwark
bourakh hirselt intae free speej pen
muild an murr spaekan ower lang-dernt rysom
trow emerjan fae the dor i’the now

wather gaj drappan i’the voidit biggeen
trees brakkan doun the braid rod nort
burgher raxan fer a pryvit orbit
bairns dingan doun the gallas o the starns

skorries skootan on the brous o jenerals
stok prys shaeran intae haert-deep reid
tour kaird kythed i’the tenth posieshun
gangs springan appen the barbit weir

naeshunless banners lift the brukalaeshun
skyre blad faas fer a krounan mael

---

Author’s Note

This poem is written in the language of Orkney, the islands off the north coast of Scotland, my home. It’s a dialect of Scots with strong Norse influences, spoken by around 10,000 people, and a close sister to the dialect of Shetland, to the north. The orthography here is my own, and makes choices that highlight the specific sonic features of the language, especially in their difference from Scots and English. The translation method, which I also used in my novel, Deep Wheel Orcadia, is built on the “intertonguing” technique of Gàidhlig poet Rody Gorman, where the multiple meanings and resonances of a word in the original are suggested through the use of compound words in English. I prefer this technique for making English versions of poems in minority languages, especially those threatened by Anglification, because through it English is problematised, compromised, shown to be lacking and partial. Here, the English is in service to the original, rather than eating it alive.