We, &

By Unknown
Translated By M.L. Martin
ungelīce is us
we are difference

we two islands
the same / different


held fast, that island
surrounded by blood-thirst

husbands there will āþecgan
/hunt
/kill
/ ███
/rape

if  Wulf
looks like a wolf

if  Wulf’s wolfness
threatens the non-wolves

if  Wulf’s ungelīce
is too ungelīc

ungelīc is us
we are different:


Wulf is wolf and not wolf
Wulf is ██████ —

& is they is she is Wulf is you—


when it was dark skies
when only the forest
could keep us alive


when we were two
islands
surrounded by battlefields

& every
thread
of joy
was woven with fear
/anger
/hatred
/mourning

Do you hear that
howling?


A wolf like us

& the joyful
/woeful
/wolf-full
song we make together
is easily tōslīteð
/torn apart
 
Translated from the Old English

Notes:

Read the translator’s note by M.L. Martin.

Source: Poetry (September 2024)