Lost in translation: English/Tsalagi
Dedicated to my friend Cissy. |
missing the point you asked me to write a quote in Tsalagi, so many words in my head, and yet, so little I could find to describe my thoughts in that sparse dictionary on the web where there were many words for water yet no words for regret, words that describe what I am doing, yet none for “I should have, or I wish, or I would have…but.” the green of a turtle is a different word from the green of an object that has never drawn breath, each living creature respected for its unique personality, gifts and talents, challenges, moral weaknesses, and each could not live without another. yet, there are no words for “by myself" it’s as if they understood i cannot be two people at once; as if they recognized that regrets serve no purpose except to press down the shoulders of the one who carries that burden; it’s as if they are telling me that somehow, colors are different when they describe that which is alive and to these lives, my respect is due, but also to that which supports life, equal respect is to be shown. sometimes i wish i could take myself back into history. if i could, i would tell Sequoyah and the Tsalagi people how wise they were, how their language is a lesson, a message, a path upon which I should strive to follow, but i'm afraid that would be missing the point entirely, don't you think? SWPoet Dedicated to Cissy in her tireless attempts to teach us about her culture while dealing with her own physical condition. Her spirit far outruns her body but isn't the spirit the the most important part anyway? My thoughts are with her in this difficult time. A few words about the poem: 1. The quote I ended up writing for the assignment mentioned in the first stanza is found here (in case find yourself intrigued):
2. Tsalagi is the original name that the Cherokee people called themselves before the Creeks named them Cherokee “people with another language” and the rest of the world refused to believe otherwise. 3. One final thought to consider: With so little words, so much meaning. With so many words, so little. |