እኔ (I)

በልቶ የማይጠረቃ፣ የሰው ሣር፣ አጥንታም፤
በዚህች ምድር ላይ፣ እኔን መሳይ የለም።

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This statement, by a fellow blogger, partially reflects what I want to say in those two Amharic lines:

I am not defined by the person people see when they look at me. I am defined by the way I have lived my life, the decisions and mistakes I’ve made, the consequences I have lived through and the way I have handled the hurdles life has thrown my way. — I Am Not Defined

The direct translation for the second line of the poem: there is no one on this earth who is exactly like me. The first line focuses on the physical appearance of the body, i.e., an emaciated figure. The poem has two meanings, I let the reader figure that out. It’s written following the tradition of Qene (or K’nae). It’s far from being a Qene (since the meanings are fairly obvious) but close enough to convey two messages.

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