Aleksandra Sołtysiak( Poland) Tree Poems

 

Poems

the unforgettable day

there is such a day when words become unnecessary

you touch someone's shoulders

you are not ashamed of tears

then you understand more

than on other days of the year

the masks that hide resentments fall

it's good that there is

such a unique day

a white communion wafer* placed on hay

glows in the candlelight

then the Eternal One spreads love

without noise or advertising

then you do not shy away

from His touch

quiet and incomprehensible

Translated by Olga Smolnytska

* In Polish tradition, on Christmas Eve, families share the Christmas communion wafer, which symbolizes love, unity, forgiveness and reconciliation between people. (The author’s note)

*****

The Calling

I wandered, thinking off to the side

I tried to love

always imperfectly

an angel was shedding feathers

I didn’t see the signs

I understood very little

more and more questions are catching up with me

take my fear with your love

take me where nothing ever ends

silence becomes a melody

take me

Translated by Sr. Paula Drożdż

*****

dewdrops

falling dewdrops

carelessly announced

their presence on the bench

wanted to arouse admiration

in a single moment in human

illuminated by the rays

of the rising sun

revealed a unity

split in two

amazement

filled the milieu

Translated by Olga Smolnytska

Aleksandra Sołtysiak (Poland), graduate of the Catholic University of Lublin and Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She has served as coeditor of the poetry anthology Dotyk nadzie (The Touch of Hope), which was translated into Ukrainian and German, as well as of the international anthology in support of world peace The tree of peace turns green / European poetry for universal harmony, which has been translated into Polish and English. She i also the author Hope blossoms longer and the published poetry volume „Spilled from the cases”. Finalist in the fourth International Poetry Contest, „Voices in the Wilderness” held in Rome (2022). She publishes nationally and internationally. She has also been awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish president Andrzej Duda. In 2023 distinguished with a medal for Merit to Polish Culture.

Information about the translator:

Olga Smolnytska, (Ukraine), PhD, writer, artist, literary critic.