Two Poems by Irsa Ruci

Silence

I.

Shshshttt . . . Listen to the sparrows
Knitting plans behind the wings
And ask yourself
If the words are enough
To build a city of gossips
Under the sparrow's songs . . .

          II.

          Come now, return from pain
          That with courage you build it in days, and every day
          While it tears down like sandy castles
          In the nights
          When you shed in tears
          Freezes the hurricanes;
          But enough already:
          Even slavery is drunkenness!

III.

Spy a little on the silence
While it is speaking
And tell me:
How many were killed by the despicable silence of hers
Defeating
When none of us bothered
To look for answers?
Meaning takes form only in subconscious.

          IV.

          A drop of liquor let's have today
          Till the end
          For the end of the two-facets
          That don't know end
          And let's sing together,
          Sing with us
          The sparrow's song . . . !

                             (Translated by Silva Daci)



He Rises the Time

He walked every day in the field that his mother labored
And ever time he glimpsed at the sun, he said his prayers
Looking into her eyes;
After, came his sister, while playing
With his brother's longing
Reciting to him childlike words
And the three of them laughed; . . . laughed
With the voice of time echoing
Their path
. . . A path filled with light!

He sat to take his mother's blessing
While felt the wrinkles of her hands
On the softened hair
On the manly forehead raised by her kisses . . .

He felt the scent of the earth just like his mother's
That's why he laid every evening under a tree
With the sun in his soul, singing to life . . .

                          (Translated by Silva Daci)

Irsa Ruci is an Albanian Writer, Speechwriter and Lecturer.  She was born in Tirana (Albania), in 1990.  Her books of poetry include "Trokas mbi ajer" (poems and essays), 2008, and "Peshtjellim" (poetry), 2010.  She has been published in anthologies:  Antologji, 2007; I kerkoj agimit versen, 2008; Antologji poetike "Kushtuar dashurise," 2014; Antologji poetike "Udha," 2014; Antologji poetike, 2014; "Malli dhe brenga nga distancat," 2014; Antologji poetike "Qyteti," 2014; Poeteca, 2015; and her works have appeared in a number of print and online national and international magazines, including Sling Magazine, Issue 5; Ann Arbor Review, Issue 15; Poeteca Magazine, Issue 35; Aquillrelle Anthology, 2015; Aquillrelle Anthology, 2016; Metaphor Magazine, Issue 5; The Commonline Journal, Issue 4/22; A New Ulster poetry anthology, April 2016; etc.  And among many awards, she has received the first prize in poetry, in competition "Anthology 2007," as the best poet in Albania.