The poetry of Kristaq Shabani from Albania, as seen from an outsider

More than a year ago my fellow poet and teacher Kristaq Shabani from Gjirokaster, Albania, has sent me some of his poems collected in three of his poetry books: Humiliated Virtue, Chrysanthemum (Yellow-white Chrysanthemum), and Eol, I Pray Poems. I must admit that I found it very difficult to put things together after the first reading, primarily because I read Shabani’s poems not in the original but in the English translation versions. This is one of the reasons why I used the word “outsider” in the title of this essay: “outsider” in the sense that the English translations of Shabani’s poetry are kilometers away from the original meaning and beauty which the poet originally had in mind (the idea of the “traduttore traditore”). The second reason why I used the word “outsider” is the fact that I am not familiar with the history, culture and spirit of Albania and its people. These two facts acted as a deterrent at the beginning and I was very skeptical about writing this essay.

However, I wanted to persevere and read Shabani’s poetry more than once and concentrate on the parts which I could understand as a regular reader of contemporary poetry from all over the world. Poetry is that which generates in the reader’s mind numerous questions and reflections. Shabani’s verse managed to do this, and that’s why my essay here shall be posing many questions.

The poet, his nation and mankind

Kristaq Shabani’s love towards his native town is expressed at the beginning of his collection Humiliated Virtue, in his poem Magical Stony Town. Here Gjirokastra is humanized (“grey-haired”, “face”, “body”, “bloody veins”, “breathing”, “head”, “pain” and “fleshy hands”). However, Gjirokastra is also described as a “jeweled town”, “the first flower”, “philosopher town’, “a stony rose” and “labyrinth town”. Shabani insists on the one hand on the “stone” characteristics, and on the other on its human aspects. Thus Gjirokastra is a town of stone but made of human beings.

In Of Queen Sesile Shabani writes that everyone dances in Paris, in Rome and in Madrid, but exclaims that, “(Really, what is happening in TIRANA!)/ Acts are losing their order.” This idea of lack of order is felt in Shabani’s collection Eol, I Pray Poems, in Liking, where he writes: “The pompous person stands with his head cut./ (he likes his head cut)/ Attracts more attention,/ Than with the head on its place”.

Many poems of Shabani deal with power and suppression of the weaker: thus the relation between the dog and the master, the prostitute and the customer, the bull and the gladiator, gods and man, is a regular presence in his poems. In The Writer the reader asks if the poem deals with the loss of identity and thus the humiliation not only at the individual level, but also at the national level. In such a situation Man tries to look for an answer from the Entity (God?) but to no avail, as “The Entity is silent with an unprecedented muteness.”

Shabani writes about the Prophet (maybe the Writer himself as the one having the power of seeing what others do not see?) and the Ape (perhaps a symbol of an uncivilized society?). Is this the reason why Shabani feels humiliated? This can be linked to “The thick-skinned man… the harsh one…” (the one who manages to survive in an Ape world?) in Trap. Man is given animal characteristics, while animals are given human characteristics in Shabani’s poetry. In The Story of the One who Committed Suicide the poet writes about friendship, or the lack of it, in our society. At times animals behave in a more humane way than humans themselves (“The eyes of tears/ From my dog”).

The Affliction of the Gods is a powerful piece. The words “pain” and “tears” are recurrent. Life is understood to be a bitter comedy where again “The Gods are wounded badly”, and where tears, pain and death accompany mankind to its final fall. There is a political (in the wide sense of the meaning) undercurrent in such poems. That of mankind today, as in the past days, is still a “shocking situation”, a situation where blood, pain and conflict rule (White Slavery). That’s why gods are still afflicted. In Wom… Shabani writes, “It’s very odd with what is happening today…/ “Man to break like a window and glass!”. Mankind remains always vulnerable. Shabani looks at all this either from the outside as an objective observer, or from the inside as an active participant.

Pain and disillusion are strongly present in Chrysanthemum (Yellow-white Chrysanthemum) – Paradoxes hajk and epigram, and this through words like “poison”, “torture”, “devilishly”, “elegies”, “blackens”, “ravine”, “dead body”, “smoke”, “blind labyrinth”, “catastrophe”, “cracks”, “suffered”, “tears”, “black-grey coffin”, and “abandonment”. Disillusion is also present in the collection Eol, I Pray Poems, especially in Ex Flower: “Nina, opens the feminine heart/ With the key of the eye…/ the room seems to be empty/ vase left without flowers/ Or with withered flowers!/ Midnight becomes a widow/ while being mocked by the knife/ which cut veins!”

All this has to do with the strong moral dimension of Shabani’s poetry. His poems are concerned with divine justice and mankind. In this matter, the poet has a primary role: in a way he is the voice of the gods, a voice which comes from the distant past but knows what the present is all about. In The Sign Shabani insists on the theme discussed in his first poem, that is, virtue today.

The Vicars is another “political” poem. Rulers come and go, but they are always made up of the same elements. “Thrones’ and “masks’ go together, and the race for power has no place for sincerity. Shabani frequently places side by side the words “play” and “throne”. In this sense power is also a question of being the best player in the game (Polydoras Versus Mourf). Many befriend hypocrisy just to embrace fame. However, for the poet such behavior is comical as he prefers to wander “the beautiful pastures and fields” (Conservatives). This links with what Shabani writes in another of his poems: ours is a society based on superficiality and artificiality. This contrasts the world of the poet, one of authentic beauty: “Beauty alone frees all the Poets”.

Style, structure and imagery

As a poet, in general Kristaq Shabani opts for concision. A great part of his verses are hermetic: the symbolic is placed in the foreground while the literal is found in the background. In his poems there are many direct and indirect references to legends, myths and the world of tales. One reads about the “tree of mysteries”, the gladiator and the bull, the shining “white teeth”, and the “magic bag of coins”.

In Eol, I Pray Poems, based on the hajku three-line structure, Shabani starts from things that are tangible and which we experience daily (“cigarette”, “flower”, “bridge”, “chimney”, “wave”), but the destination is much more detached from all that which is real and touches the philosophical, the intellectual and the spiritual.

Shabani also writes about positive elements such as virtue, beauty and dignity. He describes a world of sensual appeal: colors, tastes, sounds, touch, “fragrances”, “perfumes”, and “aromas” have a strong presence and role. This links also with the erotic component such as what we read in The Evidence where woman is presented as a temptress in these lines made up of heat, passion and temptation.

“Eyelids” are frequently mentioned in Shabani’s poems: many times they represent something much larger such as dawn or the birth of light through sunrise, “The dawn cannot open the eyelids, the extinguished dawn”.

Light is another strong image in Shabani’s poetry. One reads of “the charming eye” (Conservatives), “the magic eye” (Dream), “sparkling rays” and “Two eyes burn” (Of Queen Sesile), “two eyes inflamed”, and “eyes glitter” (Tiraide). The “burning fire” (in Descendant Poets) is not only that which has to do with passion, but also with inspiration. Becoming pregnant may thus also mean becoming inspired. “Birth” and “pregnancy” are also present in Every Book has its Luck. Such concepts are tied to the process of waiting and having patience. Does not this indirectly refer to the relation between the poet and inspiration/poetry? In Dream, Shabani meets Homer who “came out of the statue of the old parliament”. However, this magical moment is short-lived, and what remains is light shining brightly.

Conclusion

Reading Kristaq Shabani’s poems is not easy, primarily because the translation in English creates a solid distance from the original in Albanian. Reading Shabani’s poetry from the outside made me feel like trying “to find a needle in the Labyrinth” (The Rostere Prize). However, the persevering reader understands that Shabani’s poetry is an invitation to search in “the depths of the soul”, and the satisfaction is huge when s/he starts to put together the different pieces to form the final meanings.

Kristaq Shabani manages to “open columns of silence” through his pencil/verses in order to provoke the reader to react. It is a silence which is heavy with a sense of awe and thought-provoking. Real poetry manages to surpass the limits posed by languages and translation, thus reaching directly the heart of the reader. And this is what Kristaq Shabani’s poetry manages to do, thus surpassing the individual and national limits and reaching the universal.

See link: http://pegasialwriters.tripod.com/id18.html

Patrick Sammut

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An interview with translator Elvana Zaimi from Albania

Elvana Zaimi was born in June 23, 1980, in Skrapar, Albania. Finishes her studies for Language and Literature in 2002 and works in many newspapers and local media, radio and television. Her works vary from translating firstly movies and documentaries, parallel to artistic literature. From 2001-2006 together with Agron Tufa they ran a literary weekly newspaper, “Fjala – The Verb”, publishing there a lot of affirmed and new authors, Albanian and foreign, essay columns, translation, poetry, literary critics, affirming a new generation of poets and writers. Among her translations are: Henry Miller – Quiet days in Clichy, Haruki Murakami – Sputnik Sweetheart, Stephen Vizinczey – In praise of older women, novel, Wirginia Woolf – The mark on the wall and other stories; and other works from Gertrude Stein, W. H. Auden, Joseph Brodsky, Sandra Cisneros, Thomas Pynchon, and from Italian authors like Pavese, Maria Luisa Spaziani, Giuseppe Napolitano, etc. This year she concludes her MA studies for Translation Theory: “The role of translation in modernizing the literary system of rare languages – the Albanian case”.

She is married with three children, two girls and a boy, and lives in Tirana, Albania.

1. Why is translation important as regards to languages such as Albanian and other minority languages in relation to literature?

Translation itself may be considered as the most stable and influent part of literature itself, as well the mediator or ‘flowing water’ between different languages, literatures and cultures. When it comes to minor or rare language, such as Albanian is among many other rare languages, it is a specific case, due to the importance of incoming literature in this language – meaning that translation not only enriches Albanian with a new vision and a new point of view of what happens abroad and broadens its own boundaries, may they be cultural or even in the mere literary sense. For example, when it comes to Albanian, this language has started its life as a written language exactly with the translation of some parts of holy scripts and gospels from an Albanian priest… This proves that in a way or another, translation was and still is an important part of every nation’s literature, somewhere less, somewhere more… in our case, a lot more.

2. Do you think translation is an art in itself? How much is there of the original poet and of the translator in a translated poem?

Where there’s love and altruism, there’s always art. But translation is more than that, more than art, I guess. It takes not only artistic skills, talent and will, but also noble human values to be a translator. For me, a translator is always a great altruist, thinking and wanting to share with others what he reads in a language others (most) don’t know. This happened to me quite a few times, just to mention here, when I first read the Death Coach of William Blake for example: when reading, I translated parallel into Albanian and wanted so badly to bring it into my language; or Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Sandra Cisneros, Auden and many many others I cannot recall now, but which gave me this wonderful feeling of having this mission – to translate, to share and to make it sound as if written in Albanian. Concerning the fidelity to the original, this is far from judging and giving a sharp opinion. There are a lot of translators who are originally poets and translate their preferred poets into their language. This is a delicate case we deal with, since the possibility of influence in this case is high. The translated poet can interfere in the poet-translator’s poetical system or vice versa, the poet-translator brings in translation a poet of similar affinities, risking though to be regarded as an epigone. Luckily, in my case, I am a translator-non-poet. Meaning that is easier for me to be ‘more objective’ regarding the poet and his poetical system when it comes to choosing one. The translation is considered as well as re-writing and re-inventing from the beginning, though we may come to what Walter Benjamin says: “Any translation which intends to perform a transmitting function cannot transmit anything but information -- hence, something inessential. This is the hallmark of bad translations”. Thus, the art of any translator hides in how he can transmit as much from the poet as he can restrain oneself of giving too much as a person. In brief, he should be invisible or merely, just a shadow, as my professor Edmond Tupja puts it.

3. You have been one of the active participants in the Gaeta Mediterranean Poetry Festival 2011. How do you describe such an experience? Why are such initiatives important in today's world?

In a world where art, poetry and all cultural means aiming to enrich a man’s mind and heart (art is not for all people) are constantly headed to a wider range of population, it comes out the necessity to preserve what makes art what it is. When it comes to poetry and its sharing and spreading (!) ways, the poetry festivals, are one of many ways. The experience in Gaeta was beautiful, adding to the atmosphere the fact that with most persons there we met for the second or third time, so it was more familiar, a very comfortable and informal atmosphere, already a family gathering. Such experiences help one to rejoice poetry, the love of mediating and interacting by that and essentially, makes a poet reachable, though unreachable he might be or seem.

4. How is Elvana Zaimi as a person? Main activities during the day, pastimes, studies…

As a person, I am a full-time mother of three - two daughters and a son - and a full-time employee. After work, I try to manage things at home, with kids’ needs and other tasks I have to fulfill, speaking of translation.
I started to translate when still a student; while in exams, I translated better. Apparently, it was much easier for me to translate under a certain pressure such that of exams was. After that, it became clear and dear to me this matter of translations. After finishing studies for language and literature, I started to dedicate a lot of time to it, with a special interest on English and American modernists of the 20^th century. My first ‘serious’ and long translation was “Quiet days in Clichy” of Henry Miller, and after that, authors such as Gertrude Stein, Thomas Pynchon, Virginia Woolf, Murakami, Philip Roth. A collection of 23 short stories of Virginia Woolf named “The mark on the wall” has just been published in Albanian, translated from me, a translation that took me more than 10 years; all these years probably define the relations I have with this writer’s works.
At the end, I can say that a real translator strives always for perfection, he’s too close to it and luckily… never touching it. That is an option only the original work has!!!!

See poet Agron Tufa's blog:

www.agrontufa.blogspot.com

Interview with poet Sabahudin Hadzialic from Bosnia Herzegovina

1. Who is Sabahudin Hadzialic as a person? His origins, place of birth, pastime?

Sabahudin Hadzialic had a country. He was born in a county called Yugoslavia and today lives in country called Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was once a part of Yugoslavia. None of this was his fault. The country he lives in today was once a part of Yugoslavia under the same name, but as a federal unit. Today, on the territory of now former Yugoslavia (since 1991) six (6) new states were formed. Twenty years after the breakup of former Yugoslavia, and fifteen years after the terrible war in this region, none of the newly formed states did not reach the gross national product of former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. No, we do not want to recreate any form of obnoxious piece of art driven by ethnicity in an artificial form of federation consisting of peoples and states. No ! I, as a writer, honour the decision of people and state to live, the best that they can, in what they call their own, regardless of the name. I am not Yugo-nostalgic. I am only people-nostalgic. Simply, I cannot but think that long time ago, in that terrible, narrow-minded and rotten political system we were better as people. Contradictio in adiecto ? No, because you can find the answer in one of my aphorisms: Socialism was a rotten system. Capitalism brought it to the end. Sabahudin Hadzialic is Bosnian, that is to say a Muslim from Bosnia and Herzegovina. But first and foremost, Sabi is human and then all the rest. Nation is historic category and I have a saying: if someone can prove to me the nationality of amoeba ( and amoeba is the predecessor of all living things) I will burn myself alive at the nearest square. On the other hand, we just need to wait for the end of history to see if anyone who has nationalistic tendencies will be remembered. I think not !

2.From where comes your interest for culture and poetry?

I think that the answer is in the question. Well, anything human sticks with me. My opinion is that we are all here for a reason, starting from the fact that we all carry presuppositions of a creative process, an inspiration. Simply, our social surroundings, our outlook and how we understand the reality lead our thoughts to certain hopes and activities. Culture, art, poetry, writing all is a part of human creation aimed to enrich the messages we want to leave or will leave to the world, to the humanity. I think that, and I cannot but say that I was not inspired by their writing, I was influenced by the witters like Mihail Bulgakov (Russia), Charles Bukovski (USA), Witold Gombrowicz (Poland) and Walt Whitman (USA) but also, domestic authors (ex-Yu): Danilo Kis, Ivo Andric i Mesa Selimovic. I hope that one day my writing will motivate people so that they start to appreciate art and literature in general, to look for not only their literary but also human direction, in the works of contemporary writers. What I want to say is that it is not enough to be ‘good’ writer and/or poet. It is important to be a good man, after all. But this river is wide and deep. And we need to cross it. And the rivers should be crossed. Only a few will cross over. On the other side is the paradise made of hopes in the world of possible directions. Human, first and foremost.

3. What are your main activities today?

Methodologically tangible and in short: To live a life like a man (human). Well, let me explain. As you on Malta have people who, at a certain period of their life, were green, then yellow and then red, so that today they are looking for the reason d’etre in blue; we had the very similar experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in all the present states formed on the territory of former Yugoslavia. Let me explain, or at least try: There is a saying that everything changes except the rock; the change that evolves because one is adjusting to the time and environment where one lives should not be at the expense of ones humanity, sincerity , openness and goodness. The opposite happens in this country. Well, just look how expression of religious feeling damaged religion per se: Religion (regardless which one we are talking about) is advocating goodness, gentleness, justice, fairness, openness and kindness. So we have never had so much pious people and so much thievery at the same time. Another one Contradictio in adjecto ! The fact is that the word Balkans when translated from archetypal language means ‘The Blood Mountain’ says it all. But, this is not what I want to talk about now. Well, my main activities are focused towards good deeds. Not only through literature. You may want to read yourself on the following links (in English as well):

http://humanitariansabi.blogspot.com/ and/or

http://srcezadjecufbih.tripod.com/ and/or

http://sabimariefrancois.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

And of course, as a independent artist, and the member of Association of writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Association of Journalists of B&H (and from the beginning of this year I am the Ambassador of B&H of the POETAS del MUNDO:

http://www.poetasdelmundo.com/verInfo_europa.asp?ID=7203 I edit two on line magazines. One of them is published as a yearly edition : DIOGENES pro-culture magazine (the first yearly edition was promoted at POETRY MARATHON held in Sarajevo on 21 March 2011 to mark a Word Poetry Day: http://diogen.weebly.com/2132011---world-poetry-day.html ).

So, www page of DIOGENES pro-culture magazine is http://diogen.weebly.com and it promotes culture and art. DIOGENES pro-culture encompasses two other magazines DIOGENES pro-art where we represent the artists from around the globe and DIOGENES pro-youth where we represent young poets.

The other magazine that I edit, although I say, that there is no difference between me as an editor-in-chief and the others, is MaxMinus, an online magazine for political satire, humour , caricature and comics in the Balkans: http://maxminus.weebly.com . I think that here you have a complex person who is a poet by vocation, and loves prose mixed with satire. Although my love poems were published in the Anthologies around the world. I am also a freelance editor of DHIRA publishing house in Switzerland: http://dhirasbk.weebly.com/ .

4. Can you give us some information about your writings and publications? What is your favourite genre ? Why ?

When being interviewed for the local media (please view entire interview given to BH MAGAZINE http://www.bhmagazin.com/interview/1149.html ) I often said: When I was twenty I was the editor on Radio Sarajevo, when I was thirty I was the owner of the first private owned newspapers In Bosnia and Herzegovina, when I was forty I had already published a dozen of books and now at the age of fifty (poetry and prose) I am represented in a number of compilations, magazines throughout the world in English, Spanish, German, Albanian, Italian and the languages of the Balkans, that is the South Slav habitat. My books could be found in the libraries around the world, from New York Public Library in the USA on the Northern Hemisphere all the way to the homes in Australia on the Southern Hemisphere.

Well, the best would be to visit http://sabihadzi.weebly.com and judge for yourself. There you can view more than hundred video records of my performances around the globe, as a writer of poetry and prose, as well as journalist: http://sabahudinhadzialicvideo.blogspot.com .

And last but not least, I published dozen of books, six books of poetry, one haiky, aphorisms and a drama, a book of political and literature essays, and a book of aphorisms and a book of short stories. I am represented in the poetry anthologies in Canada, France and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also in anthologies of aphorisms of the Balkans and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I edit and write book reviews. Recently Plain View Press form Texas, USA published ISHTAR SONGS and I was one of the writers selected to do the book review. Ishtar Songs was an Anthology of Iraqi poetry from ‘70s to present days http://www.plainviewpress.net/gallery2/pages/Ishtars-Songs.html .

There are some plans to publish Anthology POETS FOR WORLD PEACE, Volume 3 in Canada and India where I am co-editor alongside my colleague and writer Dr. Ram Sharma from India. Forty five poets were selected to be represented, one of them being Patrick Summit from Malta.

It is not easy to answer the second part of your question that refers to my favourite genre. The literature, the way I see it, is the art of the words. The words form poems, stories, aphorisms, inspirational sayings , texts of all kinds, dramas, commentaries, novels, essays….I think that it all depends on time of the creation. Within the inspiration guided by lyrics, I create a number of poems, and on the other side I deliver variety of prosaic texts that inspired by its sub-genres. I do not want to say that I prefer any genre at the expense of the other. How successful I am as the author within the many layers I have is best demonstrated by this year’s award of Ivo Andric’s Academy form Belgrade.

The Jury, presided by Radomir Smiljanic, one of the bards of Serbian literature, having read my LITERARY TRIOLOGY (aphorisms, short stories and poems) unanimously voted for the award. TRIOLOGY was published in 2010. This prestigious award is named after the author, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. His name is Ivo Andric.

The Jury’s decision based on the Literature Trilogy (poems: The Sisyphus’ Struggle, stories: The Country Without Consciousness and aphorisms: Lost Souls, published y Dhira, KUsnacht, Switzerland 2010) is:

“The poetry of Sabahudin Hadzialic in his book Sisyphus’ Struggle is laden with complex concepts depicting struggle for the human side of mankind amidst daily issues alternating it with the idea of love memories. Hadzialic’s poetic idea is focused: it is post-modern, urban poetry of a man in search for the meaningful life….The book The Country Without Consciousness represents a joint aim – stripping of myths we struggle with in our daily lives, while often using a range of allegories, hyperbolas and our own expectations all underlined with a satire. In Lost Souls, a book dedicated to aphorisms, Hadzialic uses aphorisms and thoughts as currency, he introduces humour and satire, he tries and succeeds to influence others with the way he understands the world he lives in hoping that his influence will inspire readership to strive for the bigger and better things.

As one can see in Andric’s writing, Hadzialic in his literature conveys a message, he warns, inspires; he demonstrates that the literature stems from the everyday life of a man and then a poet and writer, that it stems from his core-the human core."

The award will be presented to me on 26 October 2011 in Belgrade, Serbia on the very same day when Ivo Andric was awarded the Nobel Prize in Stockholm 50 years ago. This award does not only belong to me as a writer, it is an award for Bosnia and Herzegovina, for all its writers, my contemporaries, regardless whether they are Moslems, Catholics or Orthodox. It is for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina , after all.

5. What are the main themes in your poetry ?How does the past war in the ex-Yugoslavia territory reflect itself in your writings ?

Topics are hidden in human mind, they emerge from hopes and internal struggles. As a person who loves and respects, I find my inspiration in people and nature around me with the aim to promote sustainability and prosperity of the mankind, I think that my themes are grouped around what makes us human: love, truth, , envy, hatred, arrogance, justice, morality………Although I answered in part the second part of your question in the answers provided so far, I think that, being an integral part of the Bosnian society , I deeply feel and interpret the events from the recent war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But, as a person who wrote during the war ‘No man No Island’ (quoting No man No Island from Ernest Hemingway) I have to say that the war, on one side, brought a positive. You may be wondering – how this could be ? Well, it is only then that one can see people in their banality, greed, hatred and you ask yourself – how this could be possible. I can say this because I am a transparent person, this is my strength and some would say my weakness. I don’t know. You can track what I thought before the war, during the war and after the war. I think that I can quote here the answer I gave to BH MAGAZINE back in 2009.:

Q: When looking at the writer or journalist as an individual you brand him as an outsider or traitor. Each national elitist circle wants the truth, regardless of the fact that it is based on how aggressive you are in putting the arguments through, not on how strong are the arguments. Who are the outsiders and traitors?

A: I would not entirely agree with your statement. To answer your question I will put through my hypothesis that it is possible to be individualist in the arena of literature and journalism and ‘not only’ with the aim to be outsider of traitor. Polarization never appealed to me. Even in questions. If you live in a state where there is prosperity stability, expertise and hope anything could be achieved. Unfortunately, not on this planet. Well, well the population of B&H is the same as of a London suburb, while the area is the same as a part of South France. And we want to think that we are important. Manchester United soccer games are viewed by millions of people while they watch about us only when we are killing each other, right? And of course, we are here ruled by ‘ muscular ‘arguments not by the powerful arguments, as the president of the Council of Ministers is a person who was a member of six different political parties so far, the emerging writers in their ‘60s, journalists ready to write absolutely anything to glorify the new leaders today, and then to dethrone them tomorrow without having critical thought to see in the first place that they were not leaders at all. Good question, well asked and the answer is simple: All of us are outsiders and traitors. At the moment when we agree with them…’those who plant black and white truths’ and at that very moment we become exactly that. It does not make any difference if this is being done by the communists, nationalists or neoliberals.

We cannot be anything else while we live in the system of upside-down values, the system that was established in the couloirs of the house of Rothschild’s, Kissinger’s, Brzezinski’s, Cheney’s and Committee 300. The New World Order abolishes the right of individual needs, of communities, of peoples. And it promotes the supremacy of new vision of World Government where we in Bosnia (and Herzegovina) are the by-the-way experiment of their disjointed, individual and pretentious thoughts. I am anti-globalist. I am human. Who looks at the consumer society as a society where your basic needs will be met? The needs to live. And then we come across PR and Marketing, although these are two different terms, and this is the answer to your question. As an addition to what I already said: p.s. in the question itself.”

Yes, in my writing you can clearly see the reflection of the environment I live in. Now I am focused on love, devotion, anticipation, aspirations, happiness… and write poetry inspired by these elements.

6. You are a person who believes in poetry as unity. Can you elaborate in regards to this statement?

The answer is very simple and it could be found in the Manifesto of the POETS del MUNDO http://www.poetasdelmundo.com/verManif_ingles.asp?ID_Manifiesto=128 as a poet and a man I not only read, but live in accordance with these principles. Let me clarify: Poetry is a message expressed through verse – the message of a poetry that unifies and not hate – that wraps and not exposes – that loves but not owns. This is the unity of poetry within my understanding of poetry that I try to achieve in my poems.

7. You also believe in giving opportunities to others to express themselves? You believe in giving, more than taking? How is this related to your DIOGENES pro-culture magazine?

Great observation, thank you. I think that giving the opportunities to the others to express their thoughts, in this case literary and artistic, is the expression of ourselves. All that we write, and hand over to the readers urbi et orbi, is not ours, it belongs to the others who read it, watch it, hear it. When we give, we create the opportunity to be given, one day, somewhere. And if I were to be born again, I would not change anything in my writing or the humanitarian work I did. This part of me would not change. Now that we are talking about DIOGENES pro-culture magazine, I believe that the answer is in my introductory article as the editor-in-chief:

WAKENING OF THE POSSIBLE


Within the each editorial of any newspaper, magazine and/or web portal, all editors are trying to describe the use of the title itself and in other words „carrier“ of the sign of the used presumptions of the carrier of the activities which are planned within probable media possibilities. Editor of this site will not do that. Because of the few reasons:

1. This is the free site and magazine of the free-open-minded intellectuals of the area wider than „encircled“. Namely, virtual world gives numerous numbers of possibilities for the communication but in the same time it is of use for the never dried out source for the huge number of information. But, this information, as well all represented here, on this site, will be in the services of the promotion quality of good and/or good quality. „Quality of the good and/or Good of the quality“ in literature, philosophy, world of cartoons and politics and/or information within whole shape of human living called culture and art. The one put aside and possible. Quality one.

2. This is a free magazine, site-web portal of the persons who do not hate and do not want to hate but only to hate impossibility to express/represent the mission of free-open-minded assumed wills. We are human-nostalgic persons who would like to live the life of the free people with appreciation of the other and different one human being. And not to based that on the name he/she caries but only to be based on the character of the assumed „good of the quality and/or quality of the good“ which represents.

3. We do not want renewal any kind of ugly/rude/cruel shape not only of cultural and artistic activity of the special entities shaped up in one artificial shape above all-of some kind super-state of some community of the people and/pr states. No! We respect decisions of the people and states in which they are living at, as much as possible more and in a quality way within their states, whatever they call them and wish to.

4. We would like that all artists of all races, colors, nations, people to join us...in one word from the area of the Planet regardless the language and God they pray to.

5. However, we will never publish anything (and not even allow to be published here) any kind of contents which derogate the human being in any kind of way per se and in other words anything that makes him human being within whole encircled environment of his own.

6. In the same time, DIOGENES is the area of the open free-open.minded dialogue because of the common good, above all. To do good. Because good gives good.

7. Coordination is the mother of the success. We are here to coordinate your talents, hopes, knowledge skills and wishes. We do not want to in any moment above you. Just aside and with you.


I would like to invite you to send us your own works, information and everything you consider the relevant and important for the creation of the possible, quality living and creation. To learn together. Us. And you.


Welcome to our world. But also yours. Because of us. And you.

8. You have been one of the active participants in the Gaeta Mediterranean Poetry Festival 2011. How do you describe such a experience ? Why are such initiatives important in today’s world?

In one sentence: Because of my children ! Firstly, I’d like to thank Giuseppe Napolitano, director of the Association La Stanza del Poeta from Gaeta, Italy, the poet and the Festival organiser and all participants who enriched my soul and secondly I’d like to say that I do not regard it as only the’ initiative’. It is foremost a sublime, subtle creation where poetry helped not only establish friendships, but define humanity as our centre of gravity which is nothing else but us. The poets are the messiahs – they bring words. Only if they use the words for the greater good. Because goodness breads goodness. Within the concept of ‘doing’. And hope. When we speak about initiatives, that is to say creations unified through poetry their meaning is the same as it ever was. Why, you may ask? Because it inspires, enthuses and gives hope that we can live in a different world. Check it out ! View the video record, photos and press releases http://diogen.weebly.com/yacht-med-festival-il-mediterraneo-in-poesia-2011-italia.html They speak more than thousand of words, although Turgenev said : ”There is nothing more powerful…and at the same time noting more weak…than a word”.

Sabahudin Hadzialic

Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

08.5.2011.

Poems by Sabahudin Hadzialic:

Sabahudin Hadžialić

REALITY FILMED

Dismal image

of my own imprint in time

that’s real

inside the vision that- isn’t,

is desperately in search for

Her !

…

Queen Elizabeth,

Chatherine, Nikolajevna,

Princess Dianna,

Fatima

Disappear in front of the eyes

of wild hordes.

…

I remain alone

trembling with trepidation

trying to figure out

what is it that they want.

…

Virtual reality of a surreal film-world

is nothing more than

a treacherous impersonation of a real world

that deceives me

a Servile Servant !

..

She’s gone !

Will she ever come back ?

The question is swept by the wind.

…

I’ll wait for the storm to calm

and try to catch the mistral wind to find a cove,

and search for the place where I met her.

Barefoot and naked.

Back in the day.

On the stage !

STRANGE DREAM

Hands buried in sand

Deep

…..

Blood stained hands.

Both.

…

I try to reach the bottom of the sand pit

digging deep,

feeling pain.

….

Two blue eyes

deep dive

towards you.

Blood shot eyes.

Both.

Carried on the wave of desperate tears,

I try to catch a glimpse of you,

however

you disappeared behind a horizon.

…

Alas !

You drew near, furtively

and embraced

The World !

CONTROL FREAK

While

sipping a glass of white

wine

whiteness splashes

…

Sarajevo

engulfed

in a November day.

In what ?

…

In longing

of an accidental sufferer

trying to dash his sadness.

No way.

She doesn’t let him.

…

She even controls

his yearning.

BOHEMIAN SOUL

My lifeless soul

wanders.

….

If you stumble upon it

stay away.

…

Throw a stone.

Perhaps two.

…

If you miss,

I will never forgive you !

HUSH, HUSH .. MY DEAR SHOW-WHITE

In my scattered dreams

I remember

the fire in her eyes.

…

I did not question

this fairytale character

crafted – by me.

…

The one thing that hurt me

was her image

displayed all over.

…

In the underground stations

and

drawn on cable-cars.

…

I walked up to

my owns shadow

and said:

“I will erase you

as if you never existed ?!”

She smiled and walked away,

towards the nearest billboard, and said:

‘You forget, maestro,

that in the moment of my creation

all your intentions died.

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

in this case – the spectator!”

I took the brush

and stabbed the hand that created her.

There you are !

MARGARITAS ANTE PORTAS

I am

the reconciliation

of her dreams

…

But her soul

craves peace.

…

The place you are yet to reach,

is the place where your hopes stretch.

…

Hope is the last to die

….

With a bit of luck !

See also link:

http://diogenplus.weebly.com/patrick-sammut.html

My poems on Diogen Pro Culture Magazine

Editor, writer and freelance journalist from Bosnia Herzegovina, Sabahudin Hadžialić, has published some of my poetry in Maltese with English translations on his online DIOGEN pro kultura magazin - http://diogenplus.weebly.com/

To read my poetry please see the following link:

http://diogenplus.weebly.com/patrick-sammut.html

A big thanks to you Sabahudin :-)

Malta in photos

For those who wish to revisit Malta or have a glimpse of the islands through photography, please see the following link:

http://schoolnet.gov.mt/tanti/Panoramic_Malta2.html

A big thanks to photographer Aron Tanti.

Sensiela ta' kitbiet mill-ġejjieni fuq IL-GENS ONLINE

Mill-bieraħ, is-Sibt 7 ta' Mejju, bdew jidhru sensiela ta' kitbiet mill-ġejjieni. Kitba tiegħi.

Biex taqra l-ewwel kitba ara l-link:

http://www.il-gensillum.com/news.asp?newscat=6&news=7878

Poeżija għal Jum l-Omm/ Poem for Mother's Day

TIFKIRA TA’ OMM

Tard filgħaxija meta jisktu l-ħsejjes

u tistrieħ il-ħajja għaġġelija

nagħlaq għajnejja għal xi waqtiet

u nħossni ninqata’ mill-art

intir ħafif ’il fuq ’il fuq

u nerġa’ nistħajlek tiftaħli l-bieb ta’ tfuliti

mill-ġdid

tilqagħni b’dirgħajk miftuħa u bi tbissima li

sserraħ minn kull inkwiet

tmexxini sal-qalba tad-dar...

u għalkemm naf li dan seħħ bosta snin ilu

u li inti issa ’l bogħod xhur u xhur twal

inħossni għal darb’oħra qribek

u nibki bil-ferħ, biki liberatorju,

inħoss f’dis-siegħa solitarja d-dmugħ

jiżżerżaq ma’ sisien ħaddejja

u leħen minn ġewwa jitolbok

biex tibqa’ dejjem ħdejja

fid-dawl u fid-dlam, fis-sħana u fil-ksieħ,

int li kont, għadek u tibqa’

OMMI, għażiża ommi.

Inħobbok, inħobbok daqs il-vojt

ħondoq bla qiegħ

ta’ ġo fija u li minnek firidni u seraqli

kull mistrieħ.

REMEMBERING MOTHER

Translated in English by Alfred Palma

Late evening when all noise is still and silent

and hectic life seeks out its own repose

I close my eyes for a few moments

and feel myself a-rising from the ground

and fleetingly go up and further upwards,

and see you once again upon the doorstep

of my own childhood days,

and once again you greet me on

with open arms and that endearing smile

that eases all unrest, and guide me on

right to the very heart of what was home…

and though I know this has been years behind me,

and you have been away for months on end,

once more I feel you here and I am near you

and weep with joy, hot liberating tears,

and feel in this lone hour more teardrops falling

sliding in silence down my pallid cheeks,

an inner voice inside me soars and begs you

to stay forever here, forever near,

in light of day, in dark of night,

in warmth or coldish times,

you, who just were, still are, and will forever be

my own, my mother dear,

you whom I love, as much as the void chasm,

nay one bottomless pit,

which has lain here, inside me,

has kept me far from you

and stole from me each vestige of repose.

PATRICK SAMMUT

You can read another poem (THE DIVINE LOVE) for Mother's Day written by poet Dr. Tolana Ashoc Chakravarthy on: http://www.poetrywaves.com/