ELENA LILIANA POPESCU

ELENA

LILIANA POPESCU

HYMN TO LIFE

I

We long forever for the Sea

from the sea of Remembrance

We long for the Distance

from the distance to the Horizon

We long forever for the Sky

from the sky of Memory

We long for the Ephemeral

from the ephemeral in Nature

We long for the Unborn

in all that is born

or the unknown

in what is known

II

Within you lies the poet

Within you, poetry

Within you lies the prophet

Within you, the prophesy

Within you lies the Voice

Within you the Unspoken

Within you lies the Thought

Within you the Never-thought

Within you the Quest

Within you the Fathomless

Within you the Question

Within you lies the Answer

III

Nothing unchanged

Nothing impermanent

Nothing undiscovered

Nothing ignorant

IV

Remembrance lies hidden

in all that is unknown

Immortality is hidden

in all that has been lost

Find the Truth

In what  you have forgotten

Only he is All-knowing

of all that is created.

HYMN TO SILENCE

He who still longs to put

his feelings into poetry,

who is a guest at this royal banquet

inspiring his humble fantasy

Who brings all he has as offering

to Him who is Life itself,

who forever returns to the sources

and learns anytime from the advice

Of anyone willing to teach him,

who dares look on in silence—

and find in random deeds

Him who, Alone, fully knows their pain

And keeps them alive through Love—

who tries to capture in poems

the living Essence hidden in secret potions,

extracting from Life’ canvas

What the Painter wished to show

through shadows on the Face of Immortality;

who dares to speak to humankind

with ephemeral verses

Dipping his quill in mute despair,

reviving hope, spreading with words

his love of all there is

and all he has learned;

Who once had so much to say

with his contrived rhymes—

could he then write one more poem

that is not the one of the endless Silence?

ONLY ONE SONG

Only one petal

enwraps the Universe

Only one vestal

gives wing to the verse

Only one quest

beckons the pilgrim

Only one event

encounters destiny

Only one gaze

searches infinity

Only one memory

preserves the unconquered

Only one resurrection

saves humanity

Only one wealth

is no burden to nature

Only one essence

lives alive is in all

Only one absence

makes us whole

Only one path

leads you to yourself

Only one question

makes answers live

Only one thought

opens the door to freedom

Only one song

makes all experience soar.

TRANSLATED BY ADRIAN G SAHLEAN

ELENA LILIANA POPESCU

ELENA LILIANA POPESCU (1948, Turnu Măgurele, Romania). Ph.D. in Mathematics, Professor at the University of Bucharest, Romania. She is poet, translator and editor, member of the Writers' Union of Romania and the Romanian PEN Centre. She has published more than 50 books of poetry and translations from English, Spanish. Her poems, translated into more than 20 languages, have been published in various volumes, anthologies and magazines in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, Uruguay and USA. She has curated numerous poetry volumes, monographs and essays. She has published translations in literary magazines from the works of over one hundred authors. She has participated in several literary events abroad (Brazil, Chile, Cuba, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Nicaragua, Turkey and USA).