JOANNA SVENSSON

 

JOANNA SVENSSON

The Clockmaker Of Time

 

The clockmaker of time

The clockmaker of light

Has shown me my lifetime

On the clockface of the horizon

I saw an intense light

Shining oh, so bright

A light that sparkled

With energy so strong and bright

A light that led to

Another parallel world

The clockmaker of time and light

Sowed me the clockface of time

And that’s when he saw

That my time was not due

I felt no anxiety

I did feel no pain

I did feel no fear

For the unknown

It felt so secure

In a way – just to know

That when my time has come

The clockmaker of time

Will take me

And lead me there

There where my new time is waiting

The time that is always preplanned

In the closed unit circuit of time

Where energy just doesn’t vanish into

Thin air – it transforms into higher

Transforms into higher energy

Oh, I am so thankful

For just having seen

My all bright new picture of life

I am so thankful

For having been shown

Just what awaits me there!

© Joanna Svensson

 

 

The Doctor’s Prayer

 

Please, dear God! Give me power and strength

So that I safely can endure

Taking care of all infected people

And save them in the best possible way

To strife to do what is my mission

With no more than four hours of sleep

In a corridor, on a mattress

In a hospital

Oh Lord, I pray for my life

Not by selfishness or greed

I beg for mercy to survive

To survive for others sake

With my knowledge

And my urge to help

I beg of you, dear God

Please, oh please, save my life – please spare me!

‘Cause if I’m not alive

Many innocent will die

A horrifying painful death

In total loneliness

So, dear Lord; I beg of you

Indeed I pray for everyone

For my colleagues and my nurses

who all fight with heroic force

Through sleepless nights

Like true Samaritans

Not giving up

Nor giving in

Please, preserve their lives

Please, preserve their health

To regain their strength

To fight for others

Dear Lord, show us the way

Show us the way to salvation

So that an antidote soon will be found

A cure to this global disease

With skin as grey as ashes

Eyes all tiresome and burning red

All weary and all worn to the bone

By little or no sleep at all

I thought I once knew

Almost all about everything

And I that all at once

Could be proven to be logic

But right now I feel so small

So very, very little in this world

So Lord; please forgive me

For ever, ever doubting you

Please forgive that I’ve forgotten

My faith in you and my belief

‘Cause deep inside I’ve truly cherished

And fed the seed you’ve planted in me

The very day that I was born!

© Joanna Svensson

 

 

What Happens Next?

 

We all went to bed in one world

And woke up in another

The third world war

we all feared so heavily

With nuclear warheads

And planet extortion

Twenty five times over

It never came

It never did happen

But something different happened

Something else did occur

Paris is not romantic anymore

Its streets are empty and bare

Rabbits are its pedestrians

The Eiffeltower gathers but moss

In Melbourne a violin concerto

Is played in the concert house

All empty rows are listening

But no one has to pay

In Warsaw though you pay big fines

If you don’t wear a mask

At a funeral where only three

Grieving may attend

Hugs and kisses

Are new dangerous weapons

Love and empathy

Has been restrained

 

 

Not to visit

Friends and relatives

Old parents kept

In healthcare lockdown

They die without family

‘Cause no one is allowed

To keep social distance

Is now how to care

 

You find that all of money

Power or beauty

Just can’t buy a breath of air

The nature all around us

Carries on its daily life

With springtime beauty

Brighter than ever

It sends us a message

A message oh, so clear:

You little humans. You  are all so tiny

I really have no need for you.

The earth, the air, the sea and the sky

Do quite alright without your help

When you come back

And learned your lesson

Then remember very clearly

You are forever not my master

If you ‘ll behave

You’ll be my guest!

© Joanna Svensson

 

JOANNA SVENSSON

 

JOANNA SVENSSON is a Swedish poet, writer and novelist.  She has been writing and publishing her works ever since her early teens. As a poet she has at present eight books of poetry of which The Seven Colors of my Life is published in the USA (in English and Arabic) in 2019 and De sju färgerna i mitt liv in Sweden (in Swedish) in 2020. Longing (Sehnsucht) is a poetry collection in two parts (in German) published 2007 and 2008. As a writer she has published two large fiction novels The Secret of the Medallion and The Key to Heaven in a trilogy. The third one on the other Side of the Door is ready for publishing in 2021. Beside a new poetry collection Beyond the Tears of Rain, two other projects are in progress at the moment: A collection of 10 short stories Behind the Green Curtain, and a childrens-book, illustrated by her husband Per Josefsson, who is a professional translator, graphic designer and illustrator. Fluid in three languages, she writes in Swedish, German and Polish. Her husband translates all of her work to English. She is a member of the Swedish Author Society and The Society of Polish Writers living abroad. Has participated in several anthologies over the years and achieved many acknowledgements for her prose and poetry. Her books are available at Akademibokhandeln and at BOKUS and at the Royal Library in Stockholm. In 2019 she was awarded 1:st prize at the Bucharest
International Festival of Literature for her first novel “The Secret of the Medallion” which is now being translated into English. She is also very active in both Swedish and Polish literary society and she participates in several international prose- and poetry festivals around the world.