Ainur Kumarkhanova
Kazakhstan
I remember the holy days,
Don't forget nor put any blame…
Do nothing if not setting you free and,
Go out without love in the shadow.
So many years have already passed,
But, loving my heart mischievously,
I couldn't become egoist,
At least it's hard to live without light.
We are on two different sides,
Say “come back” let go of the fears.
These days from lovers' shores,
One hurts my soul in my dreams.
What is needed? just stay quiet,
Let's go there” do not say!
The days that were meant for us,
A wound is remained in my chest!
You are on my lips, I still love you.
The fire of love is still burning!
But from within me, but from within me
Once again more I just hate you!
Lana
Derkač
COPY, PASTE
Women are, according to my home philosopher
Davor,
an objection embodied.
Even
God rests on Sunday, while I’m not allowed to,
says Davor.
Under a plum tree, day in day out,
his dream is being put together as if
someone
is repeating the copy-paste operation on a computer.
In the shade I dreamt him wondering:
Does
a shadow signify presence or absence?
This afternoon, I too sleep under a tree
for it can simultaneously, with its treetop
and roots,
grow in two opposite directions,
and not disturb the serenity of the garden.
And so I call Davor into the kitchen.
But he doesn’t eat last year’s plum
dumplings
before he can taste their relish
blended with cinnamon on my face.
The wind spreads the smells across the
plains.
The wind trades in spices.
Translated by Ana Janković
MY BLUE DRESS
We
are not the only settlers.
The
ocean is heaven brought to Earth.
Originally
straight.
Waves
are created just because
what
the Earth hums, moans,
rumbles,
grumbles.
But
above from the shoots of the old sky
a
new sky was renewed.
When
I take off my blue dress,
there
is no more sky.
When
you take off my blue dress,
there
is no ocean.
Just
a meadow of flower pillowslips
and white walls.
Translated
by the author
Lana Derkač (1969) is a renowned Croatian poet and writer. She has published around fifteen collections of poetry, prose, drama, essays, and one novel. Featured in many magazines, journals, and anthologies in Croatia and abroad, her work has been translated into twenty languages. Her recognitions include national and international literary awards, such as the Zdravko Pucak Poetry Prize, Duhovno Hrasce Prize, and Vinum et Poeta Prize, all awarded in Croatia; she has also received the Risto Ratkovic Prize, awarded in Montenegro for the best book of poetry in the region of Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lana Derkač has participated in various literary events both at home and abroad, including the Struga Poetry Evenings, the Granada International Poetry Festival, and the Stockholm International Poetry Festival.
