Poems and Music by Irakli Kakabadze

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  1. Irakli Kakabadze
  2. Irakli Kakabadze is a prolific writer, performance artist, and activist from Georgia. A political and satirical writer, Kakabadze has published five books and more than fifty short stories. Since his early twenties, he has been involved in human rights and peace activism in Georgia. He has been recognized for his humanitarian efforts, receiving the Lillian Hellman/Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch in 2007 and the Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Prize in 2009. He has also been persecuted for his activism and artwork: in 2006 he was arrested three times and received numerous death threats for his editorial criticizing the Georgian government. He fled the country to become the Ithaca City of Asylum writer-in-residence from 2008-2011 and is now the Barcelona City of Refuge writer-in-residence.

INFORMATION HIGHWAY

I got lost on information highway,
When I looked for a simple and unsophisticated my way!

They did not tell us:
Who are good fellas!

When did I want to feel your hair!
When did I smell that life could be fair!

When did I see that that I couldn’t bear,

When did I feel that justice is rare!

I just didn’t know all of these,
I just didn’t know that things are changed hundred degrees!

When did I come into the fortress of your eyes?
When did I feel that my life is full of lies?!

——————————————————————როცა ხედავს ესტაკადას
——————————————————————ადამიანს მოსდის მადა!
——————————————————————როცა ხედავს ესტაკადას,
——————————————————————ადამიანს უნდა დადა!
—————————————–დადა, დადა, დადა, დადა
—————————————–ესტაკადის ოლიმპიადა!

Before, I got lost on Information Highway,
They did not administer painkillers to numb human civilization.
They did not use hundred thousand images a second,
To make us forget the image of truth.
Before I got lost on Information Highway
It was no fighting justice with methamphetamines,
Codeine, hard and soft drugs,
Whole sea of media reports, briefings, shows
That were collectively asking the truth to disappear,
Being hired by PR and GR companies.
Before I got lost on Information Highway,
Not everything was so perfect,
People used to sit in bars late night,
And they used to smoke whole packs of cigarettes,
Throughout the night…
As I say, not everything was perfect,
Before I got lost…

———————————————მეტამფიტამინის მადა,
———————————————დადა, დადა, დადა, დადა!
———————————————ტანსაცმელი იყო სადა,
———————————————წინ მოჩანდა ესტაკადა!
————————-დადა, დადა, დადა, დადა
————————-მეტამფიტამინის მადა!

When I was lost in the sea of crying letters,
They deliberated what was wrong and what was better!

My dear, forgive me for my denial!
I know I must face another trial!

Darling, in the darkness of these shoes,
It is so difficult when you have to choose!

I shall believe that world is wide,
And we shall wait until the next tide!

Therefore, there’s nothing that we can hide,
There’s nothing that we can decide!

————————————————–მოგვატყუეს, ჩემო დადა!
————————————————–ხელოვნურად მოგვცეს მადა!
————————————————–ჰალუცინოგენის ქადა,
————————————————–და ცნობების ესტაკადა!
—————————-ეს ცნობების ესტაკადა
—————————-არაფერში ვარგა, დადა!
—————————-ხელოვნურად გაგვიზარდეს,
—————————-მეტამფიტამინის მადა!….
————————————–დადა, დადა, ჩემო დადა,
————————————–ეს არ არის ჩვენი მადა!
————————————–ტყუილია სერენადა,
————————————–ფარსი ეს ოლიმპიადა!

Darling, you tell me, I shall come out,
And I shall know, what’s this all about!

When I got lost on information highway,
I forgot that I was looking for a simple and unsophisticated

My way!…


SIXTEEN JUDGES

Sixteen judges sat together,
And they thought it was forever.
They were eating people’s meat,
And were not content to eat… One judge ate a big loan from the bank,
He was about to give his rank.
Another judge was so depressed,
And his son was always stressed. Third one had an angry wife,
And his miserable life.
Fourth one also was in debt,
And he almost never slept. Fifth judge sold some stolen cars,
To afford a ticket to Mars.
Sixth one beaten by his mom,
He was pounded like a drum. Seventh was living alone,
No one gave him an ice cream cone.
Eighth was suffering in school
Everybody called him: fool! Ninth was suffering from flu,
He did not have any clue.
Tenth was always on the side,
Scared that he can always slide! Eleventh judge had long been tortured,
Never seeing any nurture.
Twelfth judge had just fallen ill,
Never managed to be still. Thirteenth wanted to go home,
Little fly in Astrodome…
Fourteenth jealous of his spouse,
Looked like angry Mickey Mouse. Fifteenth wanted to raise his wage,
Was complaining of his age.
And sixteenth was raised in hell,
And he knew it very well. All these judges did not know,
That hanged man will never go.
He’ll stay with them all their lives,
And he’ll take away their wives. He’ll come back and he will win,
Watching him they will grow thin.
Hanged man will always decide
Who will be on a different side. Hanged man will always come back,
Judges will compete on track.
Hanged man will be patron saint,
Judges will be left to faint.


PENICILLIN

Penicillin,
Pain is silly,
Pain is thrilling,
Pain is chilling,
Pain is willing
Pain is drilling
Pain is billing,
Pain is filling,
Pain is grilling,
Pain is healing,
Pain is killing,
Pain is shilling!
Pain is silly,
Rain is silly,
Train is silly,
Plane is silly,
Terrain is silly,
Brain is silly,
Drain is silly,
Grain is silly,
Lane is silly,
Sane is silly
Insane is silly,
Chain is silly.

Penicillin – Is a drug – antibiotic from a lovely Penicillium fungi. It was used to treat syphilis.
Beta-lactam Group – and also Gram-positive. How unfortunate that Lenin did not have it – it would have treated him of his disease and maybe of bolshevism too.

Pain is silly – Everything is silly that is not bought and sold. Usually they don’t want to buy pain. And they don’t want to sell it. But who knows. Maybe they’ll start selling this one too. But maybe the humanity needs some silly things too?

Pain is chilling – For some people pain might be chilling. I don’t have the exact number of those for whom it is chilling. It was good to have pain when I thought I could do everything..

Pain is thrilling – For some people pain is thrilling. They usually get adrenaline with the pain and stress and they cannot sustain high levels of energy without pain.

Pain is willing – It is absolutely willing to go far. Sometimes it goes very far, to greater depths. It is quite difficult to take.

Pain is drilling – Ooooh, it could be really drilling. Horrifying intellectuals and members of working class alike. It could be more drilling than Royal Dutch Shell and even British Petroleum.

Pain is billing – It is absolutely capitalist in some situations. It is charging us once we get it.

Pain is filling – The blanks..

Pain is grilling – Indeed.

Pain is healing – From ignorance, pride, obsession, selfishness, and so on.

Pain is killing – The Megalomania.

Pain is shilling – And even EURO today. The common European currency proved to be a very strong one.

Pain is silly – It is not hundred percent proven. But some scientists suggest pain is silly, based upon available evidence that pain causes people to become less rational. But those scientists who do not believe in rationality disagree. I cannot suggest my opinion, because having an opinion these days is very irrational. It is not suggested to be opinionated.

Rain is silly – It really depends how strong is rain. It has be very strong to be silly, since if it is not very strong than I like it. My friend Tiko Andalusia likes it too. Since both of us like it, when it is not too string, then I can conclude that it is silly only when it is pouring hard and there is no escape from it. Or maybe that’s when rain is the best – to wash away our stupidity.

Train is silly – Especially the train of success. It is completely elusive and it is always running away from human beings and they are chasing the train of success while leaving the station of happiness. That is the whole paradox of life.

Plane is silly – I have to say I want to argue with this proposition. Plane is silly only when it serves power. Or power struggle. Indeed that one is silly. But otherwise it can take us up to the sky which is always nice. Or lovely as they say in Western Georgia.

Terrain is silly – Terrain of war is undeniably silly. But my terrain where the farmer’s house is built is not so silly as you would like to imagine. It is wonderful watching deer from your window.

Brain is silly – When it thinks that it can solve all problems or when it thinks that it cannot solve any problems. Brain is silly in both extremes. That is what my neighbor Tuta said in her heyday as a designer of our erotic dreams.

Drain is silly – Brain drain is undeniably silly. It is not worthy to experience brain drain. But it happens. This is one more testament that silly things happen.

Grain is silly – Do you mean multi-grain? In this case I completely disagree. Not all grains are silly. There are some grains that we can use as a humanity.

Lane is silly – This is mostly true. Especially, if you are in the lane to see Vladimir Lenin’s tomb in Moscow. This lane is longest damn lane in the world – it never ends.

Sane is silly – All sane people are a little silly. At least a little. Maybe even more than little.

Insane is silly – All insane people are a little silly too. But the silliest part of this story is that there is no insanity. It is long since it was proved that there is no insanity and it is silly to convince ourselves that there is insanity. Period.

Chain is silly -Absolutely. Chain is silly because it cannot hold people under control forever. It does not work. So it is better to unleash it. Chains don’t work – so unleash the chains and make us free.

tkivilizacia
Civilizacia
civilizacia
Jivil-xivilizacia

tkivilizacia iwyeba maSin rodesac civilizacias Civilizacia cvlis da amiT mTavrdeba mTeli Jivil-xivilizacia.

Tkivilizatsia
Chivilizaltsia
Tsivilizatsia
Jhivil-khivilizatsia.

Iman atsia.
Aman atsia,
Otar Fatsatsia,
Konfiguratsia.

Es feri batsia,
Mometsi ratsia,
Aa, Inflatsia,
Da ras daemsgavsa,
Es Chveni natsia…

Konfederatsia,
Da federatsia
Chven mkholod gvishvelis
Tkivilizatsia….

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