There was all this wine in our veins, there was all this rain.
Maja Herman-Sekulić is an internationally published Serbian-American author of 23 books in Serbian, English German and French; her poems were translated in 25 languages. Of her poetry, Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky said: “her poetry is of the rarest talent and beauty as she is herself.” Maja is an acclaimed and award nominated poet, novelist, essayist, bilingual scholar, and a translator. Her last book is a novel “Nine Lives of Milena Pavlovic Barillli” published first in Serbia by Barilli Foundation in June 2021.
Most recently she was anointed by the UN World Literary Forum as their ”International Ambassador of Peace” by the Galaxy International Foundation and Academy and the World Literature, India, their “Ambassador of Culture and Good Will”, by Global Literary Society their Administrator and unique “Global Poetry Icon” and the “Icon of Style of Serbia in last 2 centuries.” In last 3 years she was awarded 13 international literary awards in India, Italy, Turkey, US, Russia and Romania, and First Serbian Oscar for popularity. Most recently she won Citta di Galatta – Antioni de Ferraris award for the best poetry book in foreign language that will be awarded in Rome in October 2021. She is also a world traveler and a Princeton Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. She is a member of the American and Serbian PEN, American Academy of Poets, Association of writers of Serbia and Serbian Literary Society. She was schooled and lived all over the world from Europe and USA to the Far East, and now shares her time between New York and Belgrade. Email: maja.hermansekulic@gmail.com
Reason for the Rain
There was all this talk about Boticelli.
There was all this wine in our veins.
There was all this rain.
And all those people coming and going
Through my brain
Dancing on the ferry to another shore
Changes of scenery, of geography
Changes of heart
And there was this wall between words,
Erected with pain.
Will this rain ever stop?
Will the summertime
Open a window
And let the sun shine
From inside
Through my eyes again
After all these years
Of waltzing all alone
All by myself
Amidst the crowds?
***
Notes toward a Ballad
The August sun is intense, I undress
On the beach, sand in my toes
I hold sunrays in my hair.
I take refuge in a café
On the nameless street
Tired of the heat
White wine goes green in my glass
Sun still fire in the sky.
No shade, no break,
His eyes dance on me,
They burn my skin
I accept the figs he gives me
They are too soft.
The coffee is too strong.
And the sun doesn’t give up.
And he does not give up.
And now I lie awake pretending
That he lies awake
And that the whole world is awake
As we were then
In that summer heat
In that café
Without a break.
___________________
