Ní theastaíonn uaimse ach mo dhóthain
mar lón,
don chodladh suaimhneach, greim ar bord
agus deoch le n-ól is gan deoir anuas sa ngeimhreadh
ach
cén chaoi gur eol
do dhuine a dhóthain? Nó an ionann dóthain is fuílleach?
Nó ar mhair aon neach ar an domhan seo fós a d’aithin a dhóthain go díreach?
Fill
All I expect is my fill
to sustain me,
for a sound night’s sleep, a table in reach,
drink on tap
and no leaking drop in the winter
but
how is a body
to know its limit?
Are enough and plenty the same thing? Or has anyone yet lived watching
the glass fill who knew to say ‘when’?
David Wheatley a d’aistrigh
Ba mhór an feall litríocht na Gaillimhe a cheiliúradh gan an ghlúin a fheacadh do Joe Steve Ó Neachtain. Táimid buíoch dá fhoilsitheoir Micheál Ó Conghaile as cead a thabhairt dúinn an dán seo leis a chur i gcló (as An Dé Deiridh, Cló Iar- Chonnacht, 2008) agus do David Wheatley as é a aistriú.
It would be impossible to celebrate Galway’s literature without honouring Joe Steve Ó Neachtain. The editors are grateful to his publisher Micheál Ó Conghaile for permitting us to reproduce this poem (from An Dé Deiridh, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2008) and to David Wheatley for his translation.