IRMA KURTI

 

 

To Awaken A Forgotten Love

 

The voice of my memories called me

 to awaken an almost forgotten love;

 to feel the beat of my heart again

in the city where we found each other.

 

Something hits my chest like a sudden pain—

 it’s the longing that makes me suffer.

I would give everything, just as I did then,

 to hear you say, “I love you.”

 

I know every street of this city,

it’s you that I don’t know well.

Although your kiss is still on my lips;

 although we still stay together—

the voice of my memories calls me.

 

If Your Soul…

 

The angry waves crash to the shore,

 turn into foam—then nothing.

I’ve not received a sign from you;

most months I talk to the silence.

 

Not a whisper; no kiss; not a shadow,

though day and night I listen.

In vain, I search in the air and sky,

but all is an endless void.

 

Mother—If your soul was split from the body,

if in that dark world existed a thread of life,

with no doubt, for only an instant

you would have come between us.

 

IRMA KURTI

 

IRMA KURTI is an Albanian poet, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator and has been writing since she was a child. She is a naturalized Italian and lives in Bergamo, Italy. Kurti has won numerous literary prizes and awards in Albania, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Philippines, Lebanon and China. She was awarded the Universum Donna International Prize IX Edition 2013 for Literature and received a lifetime nomination as an Ambassador of Peace by the University of Peace, Italian Switzerland. In 2020, she became the honorary president of WikiPoesia, the encyclopedia of poetry. In 2021, she was awarded the title of Liria (Freedom) by the Italian-Albanian community in Italy. She received the Leonardo da Vinci and Giacomo Leopardi prizes from the Chimera Arte Contemporanea Cultural Association of Lecce. The same association also honored her with the European Ambassador Award and named her the Best Poet of the Year in 2022. She received the Grazia Deledda medal and diploma of merit from the National Committee of WikiPoesia on the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Italian poet. In 2023 she was awarded a Career Award from the Universum Academy Switzerland. Irma Kurti is a member of the jury for several literary competitions in Italy. She is also a translator for the Ithaca Foundation in Spain. Irma Kurti has published more than 110 works, including books of poetry, fiction and translations. She is one of the most translated and published Albanian poets. Her books have been translated and published in 21 countries.