Johan Sandberg McGuinne
Poem 180
This poem was written by the Tornedalian poet Kerstin Tuomas Larsson, who
published the first ever poetry collection in Meänkieli 18 years ago.
I´ve made a Scottish Gaelic translation of it, but you can read the original
poem in Swedish at the end of this post, as per usual.
COIBHNEAS
oir bu cridhean a`choibhneis a bh`annainn,
cha do thug sinn cuireadh dhaibh
airson pairt a ghabail `sna cèillidhean a bh´againn
oir a bha sinne daoine cobhneil, cha do thug sinn
ar gnè fhéin de dh´ábhachdas, ar seanfhacian,
ar sùgraidh is ar n-òrain dhaibh
oir a bha coibhneas ´sna leabhraichean againn,
thug sinn an stòras as fhèarr dhaibh
`Nisd, cha dèan iad gà comhia rinn
agus chan urrainn dhuinn Suainis a chur air gach rud
Siud mar a bha e, oir bha sinne gu math coibhneil,
thug sinn ainmean is facian na mòr-chuidh orra,
ged is ar n-òganaich is ar clann a th`annta,
ar n-am ri teachd.