What!? You say there is justice, and that it can be,

That it burns like love, around you and me.

Zdenka Mlinar, a poetess from Zagreb, Croatia, shares her poetry

Zdenka Mlinar lives in Velika Gorica and Zagreb, writing poetry, prose, reviews, and short texts (miniatures, aphorisms, haiku, etc.). She has published eleven solo poetry collections and is a member of several literary societies and associations. She writes in the Croatian standard language, English, and occasionally ventures into writing in Croatian dialects. Her works have been included in the Lexicon of Contemporary Writers from Velika Gorica (2006) and the Turopolje Lexicon (2021). They have been published in more than 200 domestic and international anthologies, collections, and journals. For her work, she has received numerous awards, recognitions, commendations, acknowledgments, trophies, and medals. Her haiku poetry appears in the bilingual anthology of Croatian haiku poetry “Unmown Sky 2” (2008–2018), in the new anthology “Contemporary Croatian Haiku” (2023), in the anthology of Croatian haiku poetry in the Kajkavian dialect “Kajkavian Haiku” (1977–2023), as well as in two World Gogyoshi anthologies. She is listed in the global registry of The Haiku Foundation and has been among the TOP 100 haiku poets in Europe for six consecutive years. She is appointed as an ambassador of peace by the Italian cultural association “VerbumlandiArt”, the European Institute for Roma Studies and Research, and the Association of Roma Writers in Belgrade. Three of her trilingual haiku collections are housed in the Croatian Language Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Tokyo, and the Embassy of Japan in Croatia. She has also participated in projects such as the creation of the “Hyperpoem”, which was included in the Guinness Book of Records, and the Anthem of World Poetry. She is the literary editor and founder of the Zagreb Literary Club “Ilija Kozić Ladin” and its corresponding Facebook group, through which, in honor of the great Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet, she organizes poetry events. Her poems have been translated into several foreign languages, and some have even been set to music. She actively participates in numerous art colonies and other humanitarian engagements.

JUSTICE! WHAT IS THAT?

Justice Is there any, what’s the meaning of that word?

How I wish to find it, like a hidden pearl;

Then I would call it the amulet of luck,

Shelter it forever in my beating heart.

To slay injustice with its invisible power,

Not to fear a ghost, water or fire…

What!? You say there is justice, and that it can be,

That it burns like love, around you and me.

But, oh, to me it appears a complete tragedy.

Is it me you are calling pessimistic?

Totally insane, for this World appears idyllic?

That is what I expect of you, unjust kindred,

While I’m mourning eyes of the dying children.

***

CITIZENSHIP OF THE EARTH

Heart and face OF THE EARTH are where I live,

Energy of my body and breath of my lungs;

Mother’s embrace to my child and me.

They are the amulet on roads of our lives,

Unconditional love that has no price;

Crowned with verses, due to the wicked and the soulless.

Earth’s wonders are cradles of our hearts:

Green forests and plains, white rocks, blue eyes…

Citizenship of the Earth is what I want,

May it crucify my sorrow and my joy;

Listen to this mature and crazy woman, World.

If that’s making one

Offended or making them laugh

They haven’t even seen, much less had mother with a heart;

They find love alien, but don’t find hatred a sin.

In that case, an ascetic life I shall live,

With no more than charity of the few;

Holiness of the weak, my life’s altars belong to you.

To children of the World I compose the ode of eternal peace,

Right here, I fold my arms,

As I kneel before them, lit by majesty of stars.

***

LIGHT TRIUMPHS OVER DARKNESS

Light is love and hope, light is life,

We should call it our guiding star, and follow its path.

‘Tis the only way we, too, can be light,

With the benevolent energy to burn bright;

To shine upon the dark matter,

To make life’s shackles as light as a feather,

Encouraged by hope, to make this world better.

That good Triumphs Over evil, we are told,

That’s how it’s been since the days of old.

We carry the spark of good in our hearts

So we can welcome its strength in our open arms.

Eco-friendly, let’s weave a tapestry of green

Where lilies of the valley and daisies grow free,

Let’s smile to life in a spring eternity.

Let’s cherish our one and only Mother Earth

And dispose of all extremes as if they were dirt.

Our love will illuminate Darkness,

Mercy will bloom with our faith and kindness,

With an amulet of luck a new hope will arise,

So sunny smiles return to children’s hearts.

________________

Coordinated by: Angela Kosta Executive Director of the Magazines: MIRIADE, NUANCES ON THE PANORAMIC CANVAS, BRIDGES OF LITERATURE, journalist, poet, essayist, publisher, literary critic, editor, translator, promoter