JOANNA KALINOWSKA

JOANNA KALINOWSKA

TEARS

when a girl cries, someone will always be found

who kisses her tears to give her comfort

her sadness is nice as her smooth white neck

in the droplets of tears glimpse the hope of the sun

which will dry them tomorrow

and let her run away and take off

unnecessary coat of sadness

when an old woman cries

in her heavy tears reflect

black years of sacrifice and forgetfulness

memory is like a heavy old coat

whose damage is thrown away

the white walls are silent

the bitter taste of salt flows down

to the corners of the mouth along the rut of wrinkles

her sadness irritates

as if its touch could contaminate

a perfect picture of our life

she is alone

and only the death will come to comfort her

TRANSLATED BY ALICJA KUBERSKA

THE INNOCENCE

the purity is white ... like a first snow

few are able to understand how beautiful it is

and white the snow

we must be careful, touch it ...

Perceiving the soul of things

snowflakes are like jasmine flowers

that form a white sheet

on which we place our foot.

Inhale its scent

treading carefully.

allowing you to pamper yourself by the wind

a scent of freedom.

the love that triumphs,

fragile like a snowflake ...

tears

smiles

joys

pains

dreams

projects and memories ...

and where did you go?

where the purity of the snow

it is now only a memory.

TRANSLATED BY ALICJA KUBERSKA

BLIND

when the shivering of the city dies

I can distinguish the murmur of grass around the parterre opposite

it smells of a breeze night-scented wallflowers

and when I turn my fingers on your face

I hear your smile and the smell of lavender

of your skin

I do not know what tint is the night

sometimes I try to imagine the colours

I'm not blind

I look deeper into the meaning of things

through the eyes of my soul

you are blinded

indifferent to everything

You do not see life

which is leaking to you

between your fingers

day and night

TRANSLATED BY ALICJA KUBERSKA

JOANNA KALINOWSKA

JOANNA KALINOWSKA, says about herself, that she was born under a wandering star. She, as a child (a daughter of an officer), often moved from one place to another. These constant changes taught her the openness and the willingness to meet new people and places. She spent many years in Poland. Seventeen years ago she moved to Italy. She has always been writing but she publishes now. Her book “Ascoltando Azzurro –Wsłuchana w błękit” was written so that people who speak different languages can express the same feelings. Three volumes of her poetry were edited and her poems were printed in various anthologies and magazines. She writes and publishes in two languages, both Polish and Italian. She loves these two countries. They are her homelands. She arranged “The Amici Italia-Polonia Association”. Its headquarters there is in Taranto — the city where she lives and works. She is a teacher, but she actually works as a translator and an activist of the Polish community. She is a member of the Warsaw Association of Literature’s Translators. Joanna works for the Italian literary-cultural group “La Vallisa”, too. She also cooperates with magazine of this group. She is the initiator and organizer of many cultural and social events.