Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Biography: Marjeta Shatro – Rrapaj (Albania). She is one of the contemporary Albanian poets. She is the author of 8 volumes of poetry. 2 poetic volumes published in France in French. 1 poetic volume published in English and Spanish and the latest volume published in 5 languages: Albanian, English, French, Italian, German. Her poems are a mixture of imagination with reality. In 2019 she receives the Alphonso G. Newcomer Poetry Train award U.S.A. and Canada for the poetic volume Vesta and the first price in Festival of Poetry in Bulgaria.
Editions
* In the sea of my eyes, Milosao Publishing 2016
* Migration with twilight, Milosao Publishing 2017
* Flickering seagulls, Milosao Publishing 2017
* To be ever God’s smile Lulu.com 24.05.2018
* Nerthus, Geer Publishing 2018
* Nerthus Edilivre Publishing17.07.2019
* Vesta, Lulu.com.18.09.2019
* Hestia, Edilivre Publishing 26.09.2019
* Far from illusions Made in the USA Columbia, SC in 5 languages 26mars 2020
Translations
* Espalier with the wind, Geer Publishing 2020
* Poems by Abdelghani Rahmani Amazon.com 2020
* Poetic Melodies, Yayati Madan G Gandhi Groupe of Publication 16.06.2020
* Murmure d’un autre monde by Agron Shele AAbs Publishing house 2020
* Murmures fugaces by Muhammad Azram Amazon.com 2021
*Of a meeting to the other by Abdelghani Rahmani Amazon.com 2021
*Lettres de silence by Fernando Alonso Barahona Amazon.com 2021
*The return of Prometheus by Agim Desku Amazon.com 2021
*The indifferent fate by Jernail Anand
Absurdity …
In this absurd world
we prove the temporary character,
in search of our path
with loss of naivety,
when we reach the end of reason, failure
with the illusion of saving everything,
we preach it to hide nothing,
in the impossibility of recognition,
where emptiness is depressing reality
with the vain temptation of worthless persistence
of the mind tired of failures
of blood mixture of judgment
with self-underestimation e
worship of necessary change
at the final moment of the closing of an exhausting period.
Listen to the heart.
At the annual Theater Festival, theatrical troupes from many different countries came and according to the established tradition, the welcome was given by the city dance group. Viewers as always filled the amphitheater and applauded long.
The first dancers, holding hands, bowed with finesse and emotion in front of the spectators, but also happy with the admiration they had aroused in that large crowd of people, who followed in detail their every move.
Flowers began to fall from the plate, brightening the atmosphere even more, while friends and relatives shouted the names of the dancers.
Alba continued to smile as she watched her family, who felt as happy as she did. Dad threw her a bunch of white roses and she cut the bouquet in the air. In this presentation of hers could not miss even her cousins, who created applause and even more so her fiancé, Andy.
A bunch of red lilies came to the preparation room.
She looked in the mirror and for a moment did not believe herself that it could be her. The tufted hair, the light make-up of the face and moreover the traditional costume seemed to come down from those ancient times and identify it with the nymphs of the lake themselves.
He knew very well the history of this amphitheater, he also imagined the circle of girls who, as they accompanied him today, once went up and down the stairs after the princess and she traveled in mysticism through human myths and legends. From these dreams and illusions created, a petty voice awoke him, very sweet and very delicate, which whispered in his ear:
-Love you!
She turned her head, smiled lightly and, stunned by the moment, said to her dance teacher, Bert:
-And I!
With his strength and elegance he had done it for himself. Inside his dark eyes a fire was burning, which had burned him since the first day of the meeting. He treated it differently, very eloquently, as if it were a rare flower. He had originally told her to dance the dances she knew and was impressed by her naturalness and looseness.
“You have a lot of taste and elegance in dancing, you have good stage behavior, I like your temperament” – he had said afterwards, while she was flushed in the face, but also trembled by that secret desire, but that was clearly read in the eyes of him, to feel him closer and to touch him. The following days created more affinity between them and she had started to love him. There was reason to believe that he too nurtured the same feelings, though their meetings remained only in the great hall of the dance classroom and the time when they had to practice the new choreographic numbers. The dedication and dexterity of his movements often disturbed him and immersed him in other worlds of experiences and emotions. Her fiancé Andy, by nature was calm and sweet, while in Berti there was something wilder, harsher and more manly. He never forgot to bite her in the nose after every hour of dancing and compliment her on her ability. She was happy and could not wait for the next hour to feel his closeness and to play on the dance floor. With beautiful movements and sweet words it melted like snow in the sun. Yet her character, despite secret desires and involuntary impulses, remained and referred to Andy.
***
Summer had entered its peak, while the sun and why it was heading west by pulling the bandages of light from the sea continued to create hot and suffocating environment. At the end of her dance course Berti had accompanied her home.
“I will return to my city in August,” he said. If you want you can come with me.
She was initially stunned and could not respond immediately. He was not expecting this expression of his at the moment. She closed her eyes and in a few moments thought of the beautiful time she spent with him, the feelings she was experiencing and her secret desire to run towards him. Then Andy, who had turned for him almost into a cermonial man, according to the rules of the time and always the companion of life pragmatism.
-Why should I come? – she said more out of habit, as Berti knew very well that she was engaged.
-I want to keep dancing with you. This flight can not be interrupted in the middle, but must last indefinitely. I believe you want that too, – and put his hand on his shoulder.
He walks like this for a while, while the passers-by looked at him with admiration.
-For me dancing is secondary. I have other goals to fulfill in life – he answered outside of any context, contrary to himself, with a beating heart.
It was more than a test of ability to withstand the temptation, which had produced other emotions, reddened his face a little and gave him a slight flicker on the lips.
– You know I love you. Of course I feel in every moment that you love me too. Then….! – and had brought his face closer to himself, as when he wanted to kiss her.
– At the right time it is easy to fall into the trap of a man like you, terribly glamorous – and distanced himself a little further from him.
– I’m not sure if I love you.
– Maybe you wander between confusions, two loves that surround in different ways, but follow the man of the path of the heart and the voice of the soul. When I first saw you I felt for you something else, a beautiful feeling that caressed me and makes me happy. The voice is more than one thing you will want to hear the look, then your smile blossoms with the right choice.
– You have a beautiful soul Berti, but…
He untied a gold pendant from his neck and handed it to Alba.
-Why? -He asked.
-Don’t say anything. You are my best student – he whispers in his ear and puts his hair.
Her eyes filled with tears. If she had said in those moments, “Let’s go together,” she would have followed.
-After finishing school you know where you can find me, I will wait-he said.
He shook them once more for his hands, looked deep into her with the dark eyes of all love and kissed her lightly on the lips. She did not object, but as he got involved in strong emotions, he just stood there motionless until he crossed the narrow alley and wandered the streets of the city.
***
As she entered the house, she realized that something else was going on. He had a slight redness on his face and his chin was shaking slightly. The mother immediately approached, realized the change in her daughter’s emotional state, and asked.
– Has any Alba happened?
– No mom, nothing. Slightly tired and the heat of the day.
– I understand that something happened to you, but what I expect you to tell me.
– I’m getting better in my room.
-No, no- said his mother sharply. Sit on the couch and wait to hear.
-Berti escorted me to the level of our apartment.
-And? – his mother raised her voice.
– He kissed me.
-Does he know that you are engaged? Okay he, what about you? Do you know the artists? He promised to take you with him to perform in a larger assembly and for television. Everyone knows he is a young and talented choreographer.
– Jo mami! It’s something different! He did not mention me as an assembly, as a choreographer, or as a television presenter.
-Then…?
-I love him there.
-Does your fiancé know this?
I love Andy. He is a kind man and I respect him, but love is something else. And if I talk to him, he will never see.
The mother was silent for a few minutes, did not know what to say to her, and added to her movements in that environment that did not touch anything. Her concern had reached its peak. Thoughts of all kinds were boiling in her head, the antiquity of the environment around the small town becoming even more poignant. Her condition was dualized through a labyrinth that is placed in the dilemma she does not have. She understands very well that feelings, emotions and heartbeats should start their flow, but it is known that they are not completely different and broke many threads and balances.
-This is a problem that you have to solve alone and no one- said in a softer tone, while the eye circles were still hard on the inside.
Alba returned no response.
The mother appreciates Andy’s honesty, while Bert only knew him as a face and with some courtesy exchanges, when they meet at an event that was presented and her daughter.
“I do not know what they’s more,” she continued, “because I want you to be free to make decisions about your life.”
Adults do not say what they think, but what they call reasonable and fair.
-The problem of your feelings is part of your life, such as your love of dancing, your successes, your joys and your disappointments. I can not say more.
– I had never thought they would not go like this- and tightened the chain he had removed from his neck, when he climbs and holds in his closed hand, like a seashell. -Yes, father, how will he think- and the girl sighed deeply.
– My father and I only want your happiness.
She jumped on his neck and hugged him tightly. They stood for a while, while his mother whispered in his ear:
“Listen to the voice of your heart daughter!”
Marjeta Shatro Rrapaj
ALBANIA
