Wild Daisies

If you love me
Bring me flowers
Wild daisies
Clutched in your fist
Like a torch
No orchids or roses
Or carnations
No florist’s bow
Just daisies
Steal them
Risk your life for them
Up the sharp hills
In the teeth of the wind
If you love me
Bring me daisies
Wild daisies
That I will cram
In a bright vase
And marvel at

From: Up here on the Hill (Mallison Rendel, Wellington, 1989)

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Wilde Margeriten

Wenn du mich liebst,
Bring mir Blumen
Wilde Margeriten
Fest in deiner Faust
Wie eine Fackel
Keine Orchideen oder Rosen
Keine Nelken
Keinen Blumenladenstrauß
Nur Margeriten
Stiehl sie
Unter Einsatz deines Lebens
Hoch auf den spitzen Bergen
Wo der Wind dich mit den Zähnen packt
Wenn du mich liebst
Bring mir Margeriten
Wilde Margeriten
Die ich dann
In eine bunte Vase stopfe
Und bestaune

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Wild Daisies was written by New Zealand poet Bub Bridger (1924 – 2009) and translated by Anja Welle, whose background is in teaching German language and literature. Originally from the Rhineland, Anja is now based in Hamilton, New Zealand. She spends several months of each year in Germany, mostly in Berlin, and has been bridging the two poles of her personal and professional life ever since she first arrived in New Zealand in 1993. Anja belongs to the New Zealand literary translators’ initiative  and is a member of the Verband deutschprachiger Übersetzer literarischer und wissenschaftlicher Werke VdÜ. She is also a member of the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters NZSTI. 

Readers can read more about Anja and her translations at her website.