KUJTIM HAJDARI

 

 

Once Upon A Time, I Cried

 

I cried for a pale, lifeless moon,

For an extinguished star in my empty sky,

I cried for a bud that never bloomed,

For a silent song, that never savored voice.

 

I cried a ship of dreams that found no harbor,

I cried in a blind alley that I saw too late,

A shattered mirror that deforms me,

And for a tunnel light that went out mid-way.

 

I cried the nameless grave, the dead dream,

The precious stones that turned to dust,

The eyes of love that I lost in the darkness,

The girl who loved me, and I lost her like a dream.

 

I cried for a friend that the years made us forget,

The voice of my parents that I can no longer hear,

The echoes of voices that never return again,

But I walked on, desperate and with sorrow in my heart.

 

Memories - whispers of wind often come to me,

Even though the river of time never stops,

I wipe my eyes on the petals of the flower smiling at me,

In the sunlit alleys, not to add pain as before.

 

The Roads Of My Life

 

I ran along paths that vanished over time.

Invisible, blind, and full of mysteries,

Deaf to my dreams that screamed,

And disappeared into darkness, into abysses and craters.

 

Sometimes fate called me down long roads,

To bite the days and years of my life like a cannibal,

To see the light, thirsty and unlucky, as it faded,

With my soul between my teeth, I kept hope alive. 

 

The pain taught me to stand on my own, 

To change myself, to rise each time I fall. 

It taught me that happiness comes at a steep price, 

It taught me to dream the most beautiful dreams. 

 

Success also guided me to paths of light, 

It lifted my butterflies of joy to dance in the air, 

To feel and revel in all the beauties, 

And luck often sat with me by the hearth. 

 

Embraced me with warmth, like a loved one,

It reminded me that I was still alive.

And I would rise like the shining stars.

I cherish life as a precious gift from God. 

 

I love all my paths, I remember them with longing, 

Without them, I would be a broken-winged bird, 

They taught me to reach for the heights of the sky, 

And to cherish life as the most precious thing. 

 

They taught me to grow old and mature as a person, 

Whenever I turn my head, I feel proud, 

To say, even when I’m gone, “This is how he was.” 

The dearest epitaph I would want above my grave.

 

KUJTIM HAJDARI

 

KUJTIM HAJDARI is an Albanian poet, writer, translator, publisher, literary critic, and promoter. He writes in Albanian, Italian, and, more recently, in English. Now he lives in the USA. Kujtim Hajdari is a finalist for "AUTHOR OF THE YEAR 2025" in Hollywood, USA, with his poetry book "Through the Waves of Life.” The ceremony for this major international event took place on October 4, 2025, at the Hollywood Salon in California, USA. This is his second major award after winning the "INTERNATIONAL IMPACT BOOK AWARDS" in August 2024. Since then, he has published 18 poetry collections, four novels, and translated numerous volumes. He has participated in over 50 national and international competitions, receiving numerous awards in nearly all of them, including cups, diplomas, certificates, and more. He has participated in more than 200 national and international anthologies in three languages: Albanian, Italian, and English. His poetry has been translated and published in over 25 countries.  He is the publisher of the anthology “All Together” on Amazon, which features creators from around the world.