SELMA KOPIĆ

 

Love Letters Our Way

 

I’ve been writing love letters since he left,

but those letters were never sent.

I'm waiting for a love letter that may never arrive,

but I will wait as long as I live.

When love is forbidden, letters are forbidden, too.

That we mustn't love each other and that it will hurt,

we knew.

But the love we once had is still in us.

He composes songs in which

I can hear his longing voice.

While playing ballads, his guitar cries.

In my poems he can read

the love from each verse

and feel that each poem

is soaked with tears.

It is our way of writing love letters

so that our threads of love

are invisible to the eyes of others.

We correspond secretly in rhythm and rhyme,

and our love remains recorded for all time.

 

Ljubavna pisma na naš način

 

Otkako je otišao, ljubavna pisma mu pišem,

ali ta pisma nikada nisu poslana.

Ljubavno pismo

koje možda nikada neće stići, čekam,

i dok sam živa, čekatu ću.

Kad je ljubav zabranjena,

zabranjena su i pisma.

Znali smo da se ne smijemo voljeti

i da će to boljeti.

Ali ljubav koju smo nekad imali

još je u nama.

On komponuje pesme

u kojima mogu njegov čeznutljiv glas čuti,

dok svira balade, njegova gitara plače.

U mojim pjesmama

ljubav iz svakog stiha može pročitati

i osjetiti da je svaka pjesma

suzama natopljena.

To je naš način pisanja ljubavnih pisama

pa su naše niti ljubavi

nevidljive za oči drugih.

Tajno se dopisujemo u ritmu i rimi,

i tako naša ljubav ostaje zapisana

za sva vremena.

 

They'll Steal You

 

The sun creates comfort to you

with its warmth

while your soul rests on the beach.

I'm jealous of all the eyes

that look at you with lust.

I'm jealous of the sand

that got between your fingers.

The wave shamelessly

touches your skin everywhere.

With my shadow

I'll shield the sun

from falling on your face.

With hot kisses

I'll pick up all the drops

from your body.

From my hands

I'll make a bed

in which you will

always be able to find peace.

 

I'm jealous of everything,

eyes, sun, waves, sand,

other people's eyes ...

Someone will steal you from me,

I'm afraid,

and I can't help myself!

Oh, I love you so much, so much!

Let the only thing that warms you

be my breath,

Let the only thing that caresses you

be my touch.

 

KRADU MI TE

 

Sunce ti svojom toplinom ugodu stvara

dok se duša tvoja na plaži odmara.

Ljubomorna sam na sve oči

koje te s požudom gledaju.

Ljubomorna sam na pijesak

koji ti se zavlači između prstiju.

Talasi besramno

posvuda tijelo tvoje diraju.

Svojom sjenkom zaklonit ću sunce

da ne pada na tvoje lice.

Poljupcima vrelim pokupit ću

s tvoga tijela sve kapljice.

Od svojih ruku napravit ću ležaj

u kojem ćeš uvijek moći naći smiraj.

Ljubomorna sam na sve,

sunce, pijesak, talase, zrak,

na tuđe oči...

Hvata me strah

da mi te neko ne ukrade,

i tu mi nema pomoći!

Oh, toliko, toliko te volim!

Daj da moj dah

bude jedino što te grije,

daj da moj dodir

bude jedino što te miluje.

 

We Have Each Other

 

As the river has the sea

and the birds have the sky,

just as the earth is watered by rain

and the flower feeds the butterfly,.

as the stars have the moon,

we have each other.

Together in joy,

together in pain,

in our love embraced forever.

You are the breath I breathe,

you are the sun of my morning.

I love you now more than ever!

Mature love is like ripe grapes

you can't get enough of it,

shows in all shapes.

That's why it's never boring,

and so it is, it is so sweet!

 

WE HAVE EACH OTHER

 

kao što rijeka ima more

i ptice imaju nebo

kao što zemlju napoji kiša

i cvijet nahrani leptira

kao što zvijezde imaju mjesec

mi imamo jedno drugo

zajedno u radosti,

zajedno u bolu

u našoj ljubavi zagrljeni zauvijek

ti si dah koji dišem

ti si sunce moga jutra

sad te volim više nego ikad

zrela ljubav je k'o grožđe zrelo

ne možeš je se zasititi

pokazuje se u svim oblicima

zato nikada nije dosadna

i tako je,  tako je medena

 

SELMA KOPIĆ

 

SELMA KOPIĆ is a professor of Bosnian language and literature, born in 1962 in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is the author of two textbooks and one workbook for primary school. She has worked and is working as a coach, reviewer, proof-reader ...She is the winner of the award Best Teacher of the Former Yugoslavia, Association of Best Teachers EX YU, 2022. Her stories and poems have been awarded and entered anthologies in BiH and around the world.