28 nëntor 2010

«Her Praise»

She is foremost of those that I would hear praised.
I have gone about the house, gone up and down
As a man does who has published a new book,
Or a young girl dressed out in her new gown,
And though I have turned the talk by hook or crook
Until her praise should be the uppermost theme,
A woman spoke of some new tale she had read,
A man confusedly in a half dream
As though some other name ran in his head.
She is foremost of those that I would hear praised.
I will talk no more of books or the long war
But walk by the dry thorn until I have found
Some beggar sheltering from the wind, and there
Manage the talk until her name come round.
If there be rags enough he will know her name
And be well pleased remembering it, for in the old days,
Though she had young men's praise and old men's blame,
Among the poor both old and young gave her praise.

William Butler YEATS

«Për mëmëdhenë»



Për mëmëdhenë, për mëmëdhenë
Vraponi burra, se s'ka me prit.
Të vdesim sot me besa-besë
pranë flamurit të kuq q'u ngrit.

Pranë flamurit, pranë flamurit,
me shpatë zhveshur shqipëtarisht,
Për dhen' e babës edhe të burrit
kemi me vdekur sot burrërisht.

E Drini plak me oshëtima
mbi Shqipërinë valët po dredh;
Tosk' edhe Gegë, si vetëtima
armikut bini se dita erdhi.

Ejani burra malit përpjetë
duke u betuar vdekj' a liri.
Se s'ka m'e ëmbël në këtë jetë,
kur vdes shqiptari për Shqipëri!

Mihal GRAMENO

14 nëntor 2010

«Vallja shqiptare»

Tri herë opinga rrahu dheun
sikur kërkoi lejë prej tij;
pastaj shamia palët ndehu
me qetësi dhe madhështi.

Kështu mes qiellit dhe tokës
vallja u lind, vallja u shpall;
këmba sinjale i çon tokës
dhe dora qiellit i jep lajm.

Dhe vallja rrokulliset tutje
mbi kohëra hedhur si hobe;
prilli përsipër i hedh lule,
dhjetori borën shkund atje.

Valle shqiptare, shenja në erë
ylbere tirqesh tej-e-tëhu;
kush ju kërceu ju njëherë
dhe këmbët rob s'i mbenë tek ju?

Kush ra midis vorbullës suaj
dhe s'u përzhit dhe s'u përflak,
ju bubullima me opinga
që nëpër shekuj brodhët varg?

Ismail KADARE

11 nëntor 2010

«Kur xhirohej një film»

Një nga këngët që më ka pëlqyer më shumë gjatë viteve '80, pavarësisht se u përdor si pjesë e kolonës zanore të filmit me titullin e mësipërm, i cili ishte shembull i propagandës së regjimit të kohës kundër divorcit që, së bashku me propagandën kundër abortit, ishte tipar i shumë filmave të atij dhjetëvjeçari.

«Drenova»

(Asdrenit)

Ktu, afër kti burimit
që rrjedh me qetësi,
Nën hije t'ktyne pemve
Dëfreve ti n'fmini.

Këtu, në majë t'malit
Tek duket fshati jot,
N'qetsi po fryn ktu era,
Ngadal dhe gjethti lot.

Ktu, pranë kishe tuj ndejun,
Shoh fshatin ku ke le:
Se sa nji fshat i bukur!
Sa i bukur ky atdhe!

Hil MOSI

'We Are All Socialists Now'

I WISH!

But for what it's worth, yes, we are all Socialists. And we all like it: from the Jim DeMints of Congress on the government's payroll to the Bernie Sanders of Vermont; from progressive so-called 'elite' to the most avid Tea Party members. Seriously! Try suggesting to the latter that we cut Medicare and Social Security. And, in ten years, when the Healthcare Reform measures will have fully been enacted for a few years, try suggesting you do away with that, too!

Maybe I shouldn't be so pessimistic, after all. Maybe we are moving toward Socialism... albeit at a snail's pace....

09 nëntor 2010

Letter to The Huffington Post

This is a letter I just wrote and am about to send to the editors of The Huffington Post in response to an article by Sali Berisha, prime minister of Albania. As you can see (if you have the patience/time to read it), I am not his biggest fan, for the reasons elucidated below.

»«

On October 28, you published an article by Sali Berisha, prime minister of Albania, entitled 'Economic Downturn? Not in Albania.'

While I largely applaud the opportunity that you extend to individuals from all walks of life, including leaders of nations, to voice their opinions on your website, I do take issue with the aforementioned article, not so much because of its contents, but rather because of its author. Before I go any further, please understand, that I am doing this for the main reason that I respect you as a news, analysis, and opinion medium, and wish to see truly respectable voices being given the privilege of reaching your readers. I would have kept my frustrations to myself if I were in doubt about Sali Berisha's contemptible nature and modus operandi, but considering the numerous examples that Berisha's actions provide in giving my opinion resolve, please indulge me in giving you a tableau of the last twenty years in Albania, during which Sali Berisha has been a central political and power figure, and thereby painting for you the true figure of the individual whose self-praise you have allowed on your web page.

Although it is true that the economic situation in Albania has not been as dire as it has in the rest of Europe during the last two years, you should not be led into thinking—and much less mislead others on that same line—that it is a result of the free-market reforms that Sali Berisha's government has implemented. On the contrary, if Albania's economic climate has been more stable than elsewhere in the continent, it is by virtue of its small size and the lack of significant investment from other European economies before the crisis; it is by virtue of the cheap, deregulated market that Berisha's reforms do, indeed, provide, but only after he and his government have chosen who invests and how much is pocketed by them; it is by virtue of Albania's recent and current state of dilapidation and never-ending construction in its economic, urban, and infrastructure sectors, which remain in that sad state, for the greatest part, as a result of Sali Berisha's nocuous presence on the Albanian political scene.

While the fall of Communism in 1991 left Albania in a deplorable state, it should be noted that unemployment never reached 80% before the régime collapsed. Moreover, the fact that the population fared and somehow survived through the 80s in a state of complete isolation from the rest of the world (admittedly, in a steady decline) should be a testament of its industrial and agricultural potential that kept some sort of output, despite the petering out it underwent and despite the amortized machines that had been furnished first, during Albania's alliance with the Soviet Union, and subsequently during the Sino-Albanian 'brotherhood.' At the same time, you should be wary of any leader touting improvement on a twenty-year-old statistic when he has been in almost absolute power for half of those years.

I do not exaggerate in using the word 'absolute' when I refer to the power that Sali Berisha has wielded over Albanian politics and its internal or international affairs. Allow me to remind you that Sali Berisha became president of Albania in 1992, when he emerged as a central figure of the Democratic movement that swept Albania as the dominoes of the so-called 'Communist' governments kept falling one by one. This movement was led and energized by students and other young, educated individuals, who, deluded with the decline of the decade they had just closed and with the dearth of opportunities that lay before them, and at the same time led by the example of other neighboring countries and inspired by the inevitable future of a democratic Albania, opposed the régime's restrictions through strikes and boycotts, and had earnest, open, and productive dialogues with the leaders of the time. It was only later that Sali Berisha emerged as undisputed leader of that movement and, upon being subsequently elected president, proceeded to mute and stamp out all dialogue and dissent that existed within the newly formed Democratic Party—so much so that, within the space of a few years, its most avid early leaders abjured any relation to him or the Party that they had helped to create.

Despite this tragic turn of events for the puerile political pluralism in Albania, it is the fate of the people at large that is the most to be deplored.
  • Soon after coming to power, Sali Berisha set out to repartition and redistribute lands to the owners from whom it had been confiscated during the Agrarian Reform of 1946 or the later collectivization projects. It is a process that is still ongoing without any comprehensive set of laws to guide it, proving to be the bane of many citizens who have built homes and cultivated on lands thought to be legally their own, only to later be evicted without any indemnity by a former owner that is arbitrarily deemed 'rightful' by a corrupt judicial system that helps to perpetuate this state of limbo.
  • He allowed whatever transportation infrastructure there existed to fall into a state of despair (and, in the case of the railway system, disuse), despite the incursion of thousands of automobiles that the network of existing roads was not meant to sustain.
  • He disregarded the country's need for a more modern, more sensible electric grid in order to sustain the ever-expanding use of electric appliances, while allowing miles and miles of wires to be stolen and sold in the black market, leaving Albania still today, as a land of many black-outs.
  • He neglected the faltering mining and manufacturing industries to the point of allowing whole factories, oil wells, and hydroelectric plants to be stripped of their equipment only never to regain their operative functions.
  • He showed complete disrespect for the healthcare and educational systems that had been so avidly built and maintained by the Communist government to serve the nation (and their political interests, no doubt), while politicizing teaching positions and curricula (like his predecessors), and failing to discourage the use of bribes for doctors in return for healthcare.
  • Most heinously, however, he supported the creation of numerous pyramid schemes from which many—and most certainly he and many of his ilk—profited, but in which a majority of Albanians also lost their life savings and were sent back to a state of destitution they had not seen even during the hard days of the former régime. It is precisely this situation which led to the uprisings of 1997 in Albania, which, in their turmoil, caused even more destruction, as well as the near-complete degradation of the military system. The storming of military bases and arms depots, in turn, put weapons at the disposal of rebels (or just frustrated citizens) and made Albania a hotbed of criminality for many years to come.

In the midst of this chaos that his corrupted, nepotistic, and authoritarian régime had engendered, Sali Berisha was forced to resign and make space for a coalition government that finally gave the opposition parties a voice in the direction of the country that had been denied to them through rigged elections. While the governments that followed were not without fault or blame (far from it), they did enact, at last, a Constitution, and implemented reforms to restore order and initiate the path to eventual (albeit distant) admission into the European Union. Being in power in Albania tends to corrupt faster and better than anywhere else, and so it did with the Socialist governments that followed the turmoil. Thanks in part to dissatisfaction from the Socialist leader's overt corruption (Sali Berisha's Socialist antipode, Fatos Nano), the Socialist party and its coalition were ousted in the general elections of 2005, only to make space for the Democratic Party to return to power, regenerated in its old anti-Socialist (still phrased as anti-Communist) rhetoric, but holding fast to the same ways and with the same figures, including a steadfast Sali Berisha at the helm.

This blind desire to lead, the megalomania, and the thirst for power that Sali Berisha has shown in the twenty years during which he has been a political figure in Albania are personified in the two different leadership positions he has held: that of President and, currently, of Prime Minister, each exercised at the time when the Constitution gave it the greatest powers in the land, and which Berisha is not afraid to use. In the last year alone, Sali Berisha has been the central and most obdurate figure in the political deadlock surrounding the general elections of 2009, the results of which are disputed by the Socialists and could be easily proven with a recount that Berisha refuses to grant and which he tries to prevent at all cost. He is not even the designated authority on the matter, but wields such extensive power on the state-run media and in the administration of the other branches of government that courts and the Electoral Commission refuse to allow a recount, thereby guaranteeing his stay in power for the remaining three years of the mandate being disputed.

Sali Berisha is by far and indisputably the most vocal political figure in Albania in the last twenty years. When he speaks, it is often to affix derogatory nicknames and fulminate accusations of corruption or even depravations of an intimate nature against his political opponents, not forgetting to insult, at times, their origins, families, and even their female sex. His divisive rhetoric has been unchanged and relentless for the past twenty years and, somehow, still finds an audience among a sizable number of Albanians. If I had to liken it to somebody, it would be to that of Sarah Palin in this country, except that it is more frightening because of the political power he exercises over his party first, his cabinet second, the political arena third, and, lastly, over the many Albanians who still lend him an ear and give him a vote.

Even when Berisha speaks calmly, it is to weave undeserved panegyrics to his touch-and-go politics that do not even respond to the true pulse of the nation. As an Albanian who has lived through or closely followed the events recounted above, I have learned to see through the demagoguery that Sali Berisha so well propagates.
  • When he praises the country's admission into NATO, he does so while conveniently omitting the reforms implemented by the Socialist governments that came before his current one, or while failing to uphold his commitment to NATO by allocating for the Ministry of Defense a lesser percentage of the GDP than that required by NATO (1.6%, when 2% is required).
  • When he lauds what little progress Albania makes in implementing reforms necessary to our candidacy for membership in the European Union (such as the recent decision to ease travel restrictions on Albanians visiting EU countries), he does so while ignoring Brussels' critiques of him and the political freeze that his obstinacy has brought about.
  • When he commends the 'well-educated populous [sic]', as he does in your article, he fails to mention his governments' neglect for elementary, secondary, and high education in Albania, all of which are functioning at the actual level of efficiency in great part because of the strong system established by his Communist predecessors.
  • When he portrays Albania as a welcoming turf for investment, he should instead speak of the hundreds of thousands of Albanians—a lot of them intellectuals and among these, my parents—who found no hope and prospects in the Albania he forged and were forced to emigrate.

Above all, however, I have learned to see through and beyond the tired key words and expressions like 'business-friendly', 'reduced bureaucratic burden on business,' 'fighting corruption,' 'streamlin[ing] approval procedures for foreign investors,' 'simplif[ying] the tax system,' 'creating a good climate for investors,' etc.. If you ask Sali Berisha to outline what the 'market principles' he supports are, he will fail to advance beyond this well-chosen yet transparent terminology and will go so far as to boastfully admit to single-handedly creating a market economy in Albania at a time when there was none. If 'market economy' or 'business-friendly' (at least in the domestic case) means shoddily improvised, family-owned kiosks sprouting like warts and trading without legal permission in urban and public areas where children used to play and flowers used to grow, I will be the first to admit his success. But if it means facilitating and regulating business and entrepreneurship, while also protecting the consumer, I shall have to look away from him or anybody else who espouses his idea of a successful free market.

And, while Albania as your article portrays it might appear as a laissez-faire haven, the reality is much different. Surely, there is a laissez-faire attitude to it all, but I fear—nay, know—that it is not in the sense of the government allowing its citizens to trade freely, but rather in that of the government letting the populace to fend for itself, while hurrying to buttress the corruption that fills the coffers of its representatives and keeps them in power for more gains or, in the case of Berisha, also to satisfy delusions of grandeur. The soapbox with which you provide him serves only to enable and encourage his demagoguery and authoritative style of governing, which has proven so detrimental to a whole generation of Albanians.

«Zoti të dhashtë»

Duke lexuar Rusonë, hasa shprehjen «Dieu vous assiste!». Do të kisha kaluar shpejt e shpejt pa u ndalur atje, veçse, në përkthimin që bëj pavetëdijshëm në shqip, përkoi me shprehjen «Zoti të dhashtë!» dhe u ndala duke kujtuar pjesën me të njëjtin titull të Migjenit. Po e shkruaj këtu poshtë:

»«

Dikush trokit në derë...
— Kush â?
— A po na fal ndoj send, zoje?
— Zoti të dhashtë!
— Më fal ndoj send, të dhashtë Zoti shëndet...
— Hajt! Zoti të dhashtë!

Por lypësi e di se ç'domethanë «Zoti të dhashtë»: Mos me pas kurr, mos me ngran kurr. Prandej me ma tepër fuqi i bie derës. E tash përmrenda asht zani ma i rreptë:

— Hajt more! Zoti të dhashtë! A merr vesht?

Lypsit doemos i duhet me marrë vesht. E lën atë derë, msyn të dytën, të tretën, të katërtën, e kështu me radhë, të gjitha dyert e asaj rruge. Kjo rrugë sot për sot asht fusha e veprimit të tij. Nesër asht ndoj rrugë tjetër. Fushat e veprimit të qytetarit tonë janë të ndryshme. Dhe ndryshojnë njëna nga tjetra, siç ndryshon parajsa nga ferri, me të gjithë variacionet piktoreske dhe mallëngjyese. E lypsit, që trokit nga dera në derë, diku ia falin ndoj send, diku i thotë zoja e shtëpisë: «s'kam besa» - dhe lypsi atherë asht i butë, shkon tue mbajt mend këtë derë, me ardhë ndoj ditë tjetër. Por at «Zoti të dhashtë» lypsi s'e duron; s'don ta dëgjojë. Ai e din mirfilli se ç'do me thanë «Zoti të dhashtë». Edhe atë, i cili percjell me këto dy fjalë, ai fillon ta mnijë. Kurr ai s'i ka ndamë këto dy fjalë njënën nga tjetra. Kudo që dëgjon fjalën «Zot», ai pa dashje ia shtonte atë «të dhashtë» dhe në tru të tij u krijonte diçka që s'kuptohet e që mnihet. Se ai ishte i sigurt se «Zoti të dhashtë» domethanë tallje.

Një ditë, me një buzëqeshje ironike, duel lypsi nga një ndërtesë me kryq në majë, se aty kishte vështrue këto fjalë: «Zoti që kujdeset për zoqtë e qiellës, s'ka me i lanë njerëzit të vdesin nga uja». Hee - thoshte lypsi tue dalë - sot nuk asht njashtu. Zoti ndoshta kujdeset për trumcakë edhe priftënt, por për mue s'e besoj. Mue dhe shokët e mi, po na harron bota e si mos të na harrojë Zoti, që s'na ka parasysh. Por thonë, se Zoti... këtu lypsi preu mendimet dhe shpejtoi mbrapa një plaku me bastun.

— Zotni, të lutem, më fal ndoj send...
— Zoti të dhashtë!

Lypsi shtrëngoi dhambët për ta ndalë gjuhën, e cila ishte gati të kalojë kufirin e njerzis. Shtrëngoi dhe grushtat, e thonjt që tash sa kohë nuk i kishte të preme, iu ngulën në dhanat e duerve. Përpara vetes nuk shef asgja tjetër, veç objekte mnie. I bjen ndër mend, koha kur s'ka pasë nevojë me lypë. Përkundra. Kujtohet si i ka ndihmue lypsat që vijshin ditë shtune në prakun e dyqanit të tij, kur ishte farktar... E sot? Atij pak kush i ndihmon, pse janë shumë lypsa. Kujt i epet ma parë? Arsyetonte lypsi së fundi. Por mnia vetvetiu, pa arsye, rritej e pushtonte zemrën e trunin e tij dhe m'at çast donte të shfrejë në një mënyre mëkatare tue rrahë hekurin e kuqun. E kur nuk ka hekur dhe çekiç. Puna del e dyshimtë dhe e rrezikshme.

Prandaj me taktik, zotni, mos thoni «Zoti të dhashtë!».

MIGJENI

05 nëntor 2010

«Lemzë»

Pour Vashti, et Mercer Cook

E më kot gëlltis shtatë gllënjka ujë
tre a katër herë në njëzet e katër orë
më vjen sërish fëmijëria ime
në një lemzë që troshit
instinktin tim
si hafija rrugaçin

Gjëmë
Më flisni për gjëmën
më flisni për të

Ime më që i kërkonte të birit një qëndrim shumë të mirë në tryezë
Duart mbi tryezë
buka nuk pritet
buka thyhet
buka nuk çohet dëm
buka e Zotit
buka e djersës së ballit të Atit tuaj
buka e bukës
Kocka hahet me të matur dhe me kujdes
stomaku duhet të jetë i shoqërueshëm
dhe çdo stomak i shoqërueshëm
bën pa gromësitur
piruni nuk është kruajtëse dhëmbësh
ndalohet të fshihen buzët
në dijeni
në sy të gjithë botës
pastaj mbahuni dhe drejt
një hundë e rritur mirë
nuk fshin pjatën

E pastaj e pastaj
e pastaj në emër të Atit
të Birit
të Shpirtit të Shenjtë
në fund të çdo vakti

E pastaj e pastaj
e pastaj gjëmë
më flisni për gjëmën
më flisni për të

Ime më që i kërkonte të birit memorandum

Nëse s'e keni mësuar mësimin e historisë
nuk do të shkoni në meshë
të diel
me rrobat tuaja të së dielës

Ky fëmijë do të bëhet turpi i emrit tonë
ky fëmijë do të jetë qoftë-largu ynë
Heshtni
Ju kam thënë apo s'ju kam thënë se duhet të flisni frëngjisht
frëngjishten e Francës
frëngjishten e frëngut
frëngjishten franceze

Gjëmë
Më flisni për gjëmën
më flisni për të

Ime më që i kërkonte të birit
një djalë mamaje

Nuk e përshëndetët komshijen
këpucët i keni ende të ndotura
dhe se mos ju gjej në rrugë
mbi bar a në Savanë
nën hijen e Monumentit të të Rënëve
duke luajtur
duke lodruar me një Filan
me një Filan që s'është pagëzuar

Gjëmë
Më flisni për gjëmën
më flisni për të

Ime më që i kërkonte të birit shumë do
shumë re
shumë mi
shumë fa
shumë sol
shumë la
shumë si
shumë do
re-mi-fa
sol-la-si
do

Mora vesh se prapë nuk kishit shkuar
në mësimin tuaj të vi-o-li-nës
Një banxho
një banxho thoni
si thënkeni
një banxho
thënkeni vërtet
një banxho
Jo zotrote
ta dini se nuk vuajmë në shtëpinë tonë
as ban
as xho
as ki
as tarë
s’janë për mulatët ato
prandaj lëruani zezakëve

Léon-Gontran DAMAS
Pigments, 1937