Ion Deaconescu [Romania]

 

Question 

 
My mother is growing younger in my thoughts,  
And is recovering under the ground,  
As the frail lily-like hand  
Is petrified by agony and fright,  
And I’m still wondering why in my thought  
I see my mother growing younger. 
 
 
So Much Searching
 
You told me in the phone call  
That the last poem  
I’ve sent you,  
Is put in a Sèvres bowl,  
An expensive one, inherited from your grandparents.  
You read it from time to time and also caress it  
And it smells like fresh earth,  
Like a rose before the falling of hoar-frost,  
Of dew and rain,  
Sometimes it smells like me,  
And a little dizzy   
You do not know what to do with the page  
From where so many vowels and exclamation marks  
Are flying to your heart.  
Offer it to the wind  
And some day, you’ll find it on the threshold,  
Yellowish from so much searching. 
 
 
As Big as the Sky 
 
When I was little, the size of a stick,  
I wanted to find the bottom of the sea,  
Where the world starts  
And dreaming ends.  
I walked through rain and wind,  
In full scorched heat,  
Sometimes barefoot and hungry  
And I still did not get to the bottom of the sea.  
Now, old and tired,  
I wish I were little again,  
The size of a stick,  
To dream that the sea is as big as the sky  
And that it has no end. 
 
 
The Last Wing 
 
For a while now, my shadow   
Has gone crazy:  
He’s eyeing young women,  
He’s hiding behind the lilac bushes,  
Other times is confronting the light,  
Hitting her, defiant.  
Maybe I should fix him,  
Cut from his angles,  
Heal his cowardice,  
And maybe he will calm down   
When I will snatch his last wing,  
Offering him instead,   
My body, almost round-shouldered.
   
 

Author’s Bionote:

*Ion Deaconescu: Born on March 7, 1947, in Tg. Logrești, Gorj County in Romania. He graduated from the Faculty of Philology at the University of Bucharest and subsequently from the "Nicolae Titulescu" Faculty of Law in Craiova. He earned his doctoral degree from the Institute of Foreign Languages and Literatures in Bucharest. His distinguished academic career includes serving as a professor at both the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Craiova. As a prolific author, he has published over 80 volumes encompassing poetry, prose, essays, and literary criticism. His literary contributions have been recognized through numerous national and international awards, including: the Romanian Writers' Union Award, Craiova Branch (1997, 2011); the "Il Vento della Pace" International Prize (2008); the "Umberto Mastroianni" International Poetry Prize (2009); the Trieste Poesia International Prize (2010); the "Zlatno pero" (Golden Pen) Award from the Macedonian Writers' Association (2011); the "Racin" Prize (2013); the "Rafael Alberti" Prize in Havana, Cuba (2017); the World Literary Prize in Seoul (2019); and the Gjenima Prize (2024), among others. He is a full member of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in Paris (2018), the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg (2018), and the Mongolian Academy of Culture and Poetry (2016). Furthermore, he holds honorary memberships in the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (2017), the Duklianska Academy of Montenegro (2016), the Academy of Philosophical Arts and Sciences in Bari, Italy (2023), and the Academy of Romanian Scientists. He is also an associate member of the Hispano-American Academy of Letters (2023). His honors include the title of "Ambassador for Peace," conferred by the Center for Peace Studies (2019), and several Doctor Honoris Causa degrees from prestigious institutions, such as: the "Constantin Stere" University in Chișinău; the International Academy of Education and Sciences in Ukraine (2017); AAB University in Pristina (2021); the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (2022); and the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Academy (2023). 
 
(Photo: Alfonso Napolitano)