new work for Pardaes Dokkumen, 2

As promised, here is my first translation (normspell version) of I. Tranzskripten the Divvine Kort, posted on 11/10/08. This is not just simply the same poem, spelled “normally,” since many of the words in the original, stevespell version have no simple corollary in standard English. They are words presenting a fusion of multiple words and ideas, or they are noun-verbs, a grammatical form that embodies both object and action at the same time. Thus, in this translation, I try to capture one interpretive version of the poem. You will see, when I post my second translation, another interpreted version. Superimposed, the 2 translations will approach the stevespell original.

I. Transcriptions of the Divine Court

From heaven the Souls of those awaiting
The great Tekoun,* prepare themselves          * Repair/Redemption
With prayer and meditation. When their courage arises,
They approach the Throne of the Lord.
Present they evidence of their clarity,
Their conclusion being:
     “I am ready to descend and instill God’s will.”

Each Soul that would live as a Jew declares,
     “I am as a Messiah. All my will is to redeem...”
And thus descend they, and after 8 days there
Cry out to their Parent, “circumcise, circumcise,
     “For this is will be Your writing on me as Messiah.”
Oh their sadness and sorrow as they confront the marble walls
Of this inflexible psyche that embodies the Soul.

And those Souls that would live as Christians, cry they out,
     “I take upon my psyche the yoke of the Lord
     “To understand heaven in the ways of the earth.”
Ah, their tears at all that they forget
When they experience earth’s resistance to knowledge.

And those Souls that would live as Muslims, they cry out,
     “Send me down to the warrens of the spirit,
     “To the slums on earth, harlots and thugs.
     “There I'll enforce compassion and peace.”
Promptly they abandon their promise to the Lord,
To revel in those warrens, angry and cruel.