VALENTINA NOVKOVIĆ

 

 

Purpose

 

Powerlessness

in front of the wonders of modern civilization

which continue to give

desolation, tears of the innocent,

graves.

Man,

a small blade

even in the face of strong winds,

man that giant

who was created in the image of God,

is his purpose to cause pain to others?

The only thing we should be proud of

is our love for every human being.

The pain we inflict on others

echoes forever in Eternity.

 

Lord

 

Lord,

my heart is small

to know

the greatness of your mercy.

My lips are mute to describe

how great is your love

for us sinners.

Lord,

I often lose my peace myself,

injustice angers me,

I often look into other people's yards.

 

Lord, give me as much light

as I am capable of knowing,

as much grace

as will not make me proud.

Me, Your servant who trusts only in you.

 

Mosaic

 

The end of summer

preserves all those

unrealized dreams,

neatly packs them

in boxes for some future summer.

 

Autumn listens to the hum

 of bees

and the roar of the mountains,

 waiting for its long reign of bright colors.

 

I don't wait for anything

I live this life day by day,

without dreaming,

without waiting,

I live it the way the rocks live it,

quietly, without changes.

In me,

under that silence,

the first words are born,

crying and laughter make

the same mosaic.

 

VALENTINA NOVKOVIĆ

 

VALENTINA NOVKOVIĆ (Serbia), graduate philologist, poet, prose writer, literary translator. Editor in a publishing house. Published four book of poems (Timeless 2014, Drop by drop 2018, Riddles of Tenderness, 2020,Poems to the Heaven, 2022, which won the first prize at the Fifth Drina Literary Meeting) and one prose book (Two hours from reality, 2020), Winner of many awards for poetry and prose as well as for translations. The book of stories by the famous writer and translator Rahim Karimov, "Stories for youbg people" Alma, 2019, which she translated into Serbian, received the award for the best translated prose book in 2019 by Literary Translators. Her verses have been translated into 16 world languages, and the book Odgonetke nežnosti was translated into Romanian in 2022 (Leo Butnaru translator, Timpul publisher.) She has translated individual stories and poems of more than 300 authors into Serbian, interviewed all important creators around the world and interviews were published in more widely read newspapers or magazines for culture and art. Member of the Association of Writers of Serbia and Kazakhstan, the Serbian Literary Association, and many associations in the world. Editor and host of the forum "Literary Conversations".