SELMA KOPIĆ

 

Mother

 

Mother

all the tenderness of the world in one touch

Mother

all the love of the world in one sight

Mother

all the pain of the world in one sigh

Mother

all the worries of the world in one night

Mother

all the happiness of the world in the happiness of her child

 

MAJKA

 

Majka

sva nježnost svijeta u jednom dodiru

Majka

sva ljubav svijeta u jednom pogledu

Majka

sva bol svijeta u jednom uzdahu

Majka

sva briga svijeta u jednoj noći

Majka

sva sreća svijeta u sreći njenog djeteta

 

 

Before My Last Breath

 

I have met death in all its forms,

except for my final one,

and I still haven't gotten used to it.

It's as if she came to be seen once

and stayed where she first appeared.

And again, and again,

every time it surprises me,

as if we don't know each other well,

but after the bad news,

I don't want to hear anything else,

nor do I know what else to say.

And I would be silent

for a long, long time,

if this hectic monologue in my head

would leave me alone.

And I would talk

for a long, long time

if someone would listen to me

and put his hand on mine.

But death doesn't stop,

it steals dear people in a row

and threateningly says

with a raised finger:

- I am very close to you too!

I can't say that I'm sorry,

nor that I fear death,

but let it wait,

so that I can see you

at least one more time

before my last breath.

 

PRIJE POSLJEDNJEG DAHA

 

Srela sam smrt u svim vidovima,

osim u onom konačnom mom,

i još se nisam na nju svikla.

K'o da je jednom na viđenje došla

i ostala tu gdje je prvi put nikla.

I opet, i opet, svaki put iznenadi

k'o da se dobro ne znamo već

pa, nakon loših vijesti,

nit'  želim šta još čut,

nit' znam šta reć.

I šutjela bih dugo, dugo,

kada bi me na miru pustio

ovaj užurbani monolog u glavi.

I pričala bih dugo, dugo

kada bi imao ko da me sluša

i svoju ruku na moju stavi.

A smrt ne staje,

krade drage ljude u nizu

i prijeteći prstom kaže:

– I tebi sam sasvim blizu!

Ne mogu reći da mi je žao

ni da u meni ima od smrti straha, 

al' neka sačeka,

da te bar još jednom vidim

prije poslednjeg daha.

 

The Forgoten Feeling

 

In the step - the breath of spring,

in a smile - undisguised happiness,

in the voice - the murmur of the stream,

bright stars in both eyes ...

Is it

what I think it is?

The forgotten feeling

that I miss.

 

ZABORAVLJENO OSJEĆANJE

 

U koraku - dah proljeća,

u osmijehu - neskrivena sreća,

u glasu - žubor potoka,

sjajne zvijezde u oba oka...

Da li je to ono

što mislim da je?

Osjećanje zaboravljeno

koje nedostaje.

 

SELMA KOPIĆ

 

SELMA KOPIĆ is a professor, born in 1962 in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her stories and poems have been awarded and entered anthologies in BiH and around the world. She has published three independent books of poetry: '' The Sign '' BiH,  '' The Monument of Love'', Philippines,''The Puzzle''Germany/Bulgaria and the joint collection ‘‘ Cosmic Rainbow ’’ India.