Watter o Saara
A version into Shetlandic of the original poem Agua de Bordes Lúbricos by Coral Bracho, with the help of the English translation Water of Jellyfish by Katherine Pierpoint.

Watter o saara,
raem-lik, waavelin watter,
watter o sliddery aedges; glessy watter-fleysh; meltin
i da lichtsome ootlines. Watter – a swaar o watter
slippin awa, lettin go

calm anunder calm. Watter,
watter sylk-saaft, lik lead in hits lustre, hits lod – swidderin; watter unwippin,
watter slow swinklin. Da waar
glansin dere – i da bosie o bliss. Da waar, tips trimmlin,

– abön da wheest o djubs, abön lang basalt taings;
da drewie-lines, da wye dey kyittle,
der gentle reddin. Watter o licht, watter o fysh, da laar, da agate
lipperin licht; tengs o fire da elk

flittin – trowe sylky tang, trowe da shoals o peerie fysh;
a flame is pulsin;
watter smootin, lynx-lik; watter o mackerel (flitterin jasper). Fire
among saaras.
– Da laand's lips pairtit; pirr o wind o sliddery aedges,
hits gentle rockin, swittlin inta crystals as hit böls hitsel, amphibious,
sliddery – watter, watter sylky
an tizin; pipperin. Watter unwippin, slow watter – glansin, slippit

i da slepsin, slöby wadin
owre brucklin basalt – opal trowe licht arlin
trowe hits haert-holl o flame. – Watter
o saara.
Sweet fresh watter, glisterin;
watter ithoot a trace; dense,
swidderin
whicht as steel, brakkin roond granite skerries,
ida blinks o saandy eels; secret, slicht. – Watter o life,

tirled i da swall, rowin up a bronze sun,
– liquid minerals, sprootin. Watter o saara, a watter at feels lik
hits tummlin inta hitsel
inta a slöb o indigo, in hits vimmerin honeycomb. Lang treeds o watter, waar.
Da hoe i da plush
– sookin; ida göd brö, in hits subtle nectar; da gowlden
pöl, perplexin, shaas hit up. Weichtless watter, a laar ithin laamer,
– da sained licht, foo o grace; da flowin tide a tiger,
anunder da glessy shadow. Da lönabrak, conger eel glunshin himsel,
traivellin his lang gaet i da mirk
– trowe wames o sylk, trowe da waar. – Watter

tick wi haddock. Watter at da faain fit (dat calm joy,
waarm; da wye hit glanses) – Watter
– hits shörmals

hits changin slichtness, hits delicht in hitsel
i da allurin
rise an faa. Watter,
sylky watter o da ebbin, o debaetless
layers o calm. Watter, watter; hits saaft clap
– Watter o dratsie, waater o fysh. Watter

o saara,
raem-lik, waavelin; Watter,
Coral Bracho translated by Christine De Luca

The original poem and English version were published in Poems Poemas by the Poetry Translation Centre in 2010. In his Introduction, Tom Boll describes this poem as 'A great teeming succession of liquid images, it is a poem to be enjoyed rather than interpreted'. In the words of Coral Bracho it is an attempt 'to get close to the movement of water'.

saara: jelly-fish; raem: cream; waavelin: slow-moving, unsteady; swaar: sumptuous swathe; swinklin: gentle splashing sound; waar: seaweed; glansin: sparkling; bosie: bosom; djubs: depths; taings: points of land; drewie-lines: sinuous seaweeds; kyittle: tickle, caress; reddin: combing; laar: light breeze; lipperin: spilling over; tengs o fire: flickering flames; peerie: small; smootin: slinking; pirr: very light breeze; swittlin: splashing gently; böls: beds down; tizin: enticing; pipperin: trembling with excitement; slippit: lascivious; slepsin, slöby: oily; brucklin: crumbling; arlin: crawling; haert-holl: very heart, inner; glisterin: sparkling; slicht: smooth; tirled: rolling; rowin: wrapping; sprootin: spurting; slöb: slime; vimmerin: quivering; hoe: dogfish; sookin: sucking; ida göd brö: in the rich juices; lammer: amber; sained: consecrated; lönabrak: sea breaking on shore; glunshin: swallowing greedily; gaet: path; wames: wombs; at da faain fit: heavy, about to give birth; shörmals: tideline; debaetless: languid, exhausted; clap: stroke; dratsie: otter

Back to New Writing