Irma Kurti [Albania / Italy]

 

A Poem on the Walls
 
I would like to write a poem on the
damp and ancient walls of my city,
people always run, time challenges
their steps with such great speed.
 
I’d like to write some verses, to be
enjoyed while smoking a cigarette,
to be read while sipping coffee,
a line in one’s mind will remain.
 
A short poem whose every verse
highlights the joy, light, and love,
awakening the people and the cold
city walls from their long slumber.
 
 
The Slippers of Solitude
 
The spectacle is over tonight.
The curtain has been lowered,
the actors—friends, girlfriends—
are finally back home.
 
All the spectators have left.
The hall is clothed with darkness.
This long theatre of hypocrisy
keeps repeating from the past.
 
It’s late and I have to flee now
to my silent and quiet refuge.
Near the sofa, they’re waiting
for me, my slippers of solitude.
 
 
Without a Homeland

What are you looking for on the shore,
shreds of memories or broken shells?
Seagulls to distant lands have flown,
abandoning thus their only love nest.

Just like you, who in a foreign land
tried to build with difficulty a roof.
Although from there, the cold, the rain,
nostalgia, and memories penetrate, too.

Nothing has remained, even that door
you opened in the dream of first love.
It was rusty, now it has been replaced
with a more beautiful and modern one. 

You’ve changed also, you’re a sky full
of clouds, hard to recognize yourself—
a sensitive soul, very often deluded;
a sad poetess, left without a homeland. 
 

Author’s Bionote:
 
*Irma Kurti is an Albanian poet, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator, and has been writing since she was a child. She is a naturalized Italian and lives in Bergamo, Italy. She was awarded the Universum Donna International Prize IX Edition 2013 for Literature and received a lifetime nomination as an Ambassador of Peace by the University of Peace in Switzerland. In 2020, she became the honorary president of WikiPoesia, the Encyclopedia of Poetry. In 2021, she was awarded the title of “Liria” (Freedom) by the Italian-Albanian community in Italy. In 2023, she was awarded a Career Award from the Universum Academy Switzerland. She is a member of the jury for several literary competitions in Italy. She is also a translator for the Ithaca Foundation in Spain. She has published 120 works, including books of poetry, fiction, and translations. Her poems have been translated into 40 languages worldwide. She is one of the most translated and published Albanian poets. Her books have been translated and published in 24 countries.