The horses cry, the horses cry 

Tears slipping onto the grass

The horses cry for the people 

Who have forgotten how to cry!

Arben Iliazi, a renowned poet from Albania, shares his poems

Arben Iliazi, born on March 1, 1963 in Saranda (Albania), graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Tirana in 1988. Until 1991, he worked as a screenwriter and then dedicated himself to journalism, serving as a journalist and editor-in-chief for several daily newspapers in the capital. He is known as a poet, essayist, and playwright. He is author of several poetic volumes, essays and stage dramas.

A view of Saranda, Albania

THE HORSES CRY…

The horses cry, the horses cry 

All the horses cry…

The horses cry, the only ones 

For whom love hurts like a wound

The horses cry, the horses cry 

Tears slipping onto the grass

The horses cry for the people 

Who have forgotten how to cry!

***

I SEEK THE COVE…

I seek the cove that I never found, 

A wave shakes the storm of droplets. 

I must love, without a doubt, 

The squeaks that seagulls have left… 

Everything around 

Transforms into a whisper, 

The Universe hangs in suspension, 

Life— 

I seek the cove that I never found… 

***

THE HEROES…

They swirl everywhere 

In chaos and in glory, 

With claws, they grasp fate 

Like slaves 

In a history without a story. 

***

LANDSCAPE OF WAR

Morning to evening, 

Evening to dawn, 

The skies shattered 

Over the lost victors. 

The seas turn back 

To the rivers, 

The birds urinate on the rifles 

As if mad…

***

ALL IS DUST AND POISON…

All is dust and poison 

On the back of the clouds, 

Nostalgia 

Solemn. 

It fluttered, it fluttered 

My dream 

Like a predatory bird 

With memories…

A black rose, 

I hold in my hand, 

Plucked off between the thighs 

Crown. 

***

THE FOOT OF ADAM

The blue Adam 

And Eve in red 

Walk with me, 

They run for me. 

Oh, what worthy feet, 

What forms full of majesty! 

Could it be 

That I created them? 

***

I SOLD IT

I sold honor, manhood – 

I don’t know how much I gave, how much I received. 

What shall I do now with glory? 

Not even the dogs will eat it! 

***

RUN

Run and run 

With my statue in hands 

To place it 

Where the world’s madness ends, 

Where the grass flourishes 

Of times 

Unlived…

***

I DRANK THE MORNING

I drank this morning 

Out of longing for two eyes 

But if the light dies 

I swear 

I won’t die for you! 

***

AUTUMN RAIN

I sit and gather with fists 

The rain from autumn eaves 

Do you say they are your tears 

Of life?

***

WE ARE BORN, WE DIE…

We are born with our stars 

We die in their sunset 

Until we are born, we love 

Until we die 

We forget each other…

***

WE HAVE NO TIME…

We have no time to think 

We play with words 

Life is a theater 

Where vice sleeps with virtue 

Immersed in happiness!

We have no time to think 

We write poetry… 

***

MAN AND HISTORY

After work and after smiles 

At the border of love and hate 

Man and his history 

Have lit lights to see 

Each other’s face.

***

WHO DIES, IS REMADE

Who dies, is remade 

In their original form, 

Without the burden of guilt 

Weighing on their back. 

They close their eyes and simultaneously 

Settle with their sorrows 

And the world where they breathed 

Urging it into its follies… 

(Translated by Kujtim Hajdari)

_________________ 

Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"