Introducing Romanian Poet Ana Blandiana

Two poems found in CONTEMPORARY LITERARY HORIZON, a European independent bi-lingual literary journal of poetry and prose in the English and the Romanian language published in Bucharest, Romania.

Totul

Frunze, cuvinte, lacrimi,
cutii de chibrituri, pisici,
tramvaie câteodată, cozi la făină,
gărgăriţe, sticle goale, discursuri,
imagini lungite de televizor,
gândaci de Colorado, benzină,
steguleţe, portrete cunoscute,
Cupa Campionilor Europeni,
maşini cu butelii, mere refuzate la export,
ziare, franzele, ulei în amestec, garoafe,
întâmpinări la aeroport, cico, batoane,
Salam Bucureşti, iaurt dietetic,
ţigănci cu kenturi, ouă de Crevedia,
zvonuri, serialul de sâmbătă seara,
cafea cu înlocuitori,
lupta popoarelor pentru pace, coruri,
producţia la hectar, Gerovital, aniversări,
compot bulgăresc, adunarea oamenilor muncii,
vin de regiune superior, adidaşi,
bancuri, băieţii de pe Calea Victoriei,
peşte oceanic, Cântarea României,
totul

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Everything

Leaves, words, tears,
match boxes, cats,
sometimes tramways, queuing up for flour,
lady birds, empty bottles, speeches,
images stretched by the TV set,
Colorado beetles, gas,
bannerettes, familiar portraits,
Champions League,
gas cylinders, always turned down for export,
journals, white loaves, mixed oil, carnations,
airport welcomes, sodas, bars of chocolate,
Bucuresti salami, low fat yoghurt,
gypsy women with packs of Kent, Crevedia eggs,
rumors, the Saturday night soap opera,
coffee substitutes,
the peoples’ battle for peace, choirs,
the yield per hectare, Gerovital, birthdays,
Bulgarian compote, the assembly of workers,
superior wine, trainers,
jokes, the boys on Calea Victoriei,
ocean fish, Cântarea României,
everything

:: Romanian lyric poet, essayist, and translator Ana Blandiana, born Otilia-Valeria Coman on March 25, 1942, in Timişoara, is considered one of her generation’s most significant literary voices and is known internationally as one of Romania's most outstanding poets. Deeply spiritual in her sensibility and patriotic in her loyalties, she wrote verse of traditional beauty and elegance. During her country's communist period she became a prominent dissident and later a respected public voice for freedom and democratic change. Ana Blandiana authored a total of 17 volumes of poetry, 6 books of essays and 4 books of other prose writings. Her work has been translated into 16 languages.
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Întrebări

De ce nu se-amestecă totul?
De ce nu se-acoperă
Pielea lucioasă a pământului cu blană?
De ce nu răsare iarba verde şi fragedă
Pe spinarea fierbinte a fiarelor din păduri?
De ce nu le cresc pomilor aripi
Şi păsărilor rădăcini?
De ce nu ciripesc pietricelele fericite
De pe marginea râului?
Eu de ce nu învăţ să urăsc?
Eu de ce?
- O, Doamne, ce copil obositor,
Oftează îngerul.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Questions

Why doesn’t everything blend together?
Why doesn’t the shiny earth skin
Get covered in fur?
Why doesn’t green and tender grass spring
On the burning back of forest beasts?
Why don’t trees grow wings
And birds roots?
Why don’t the happy pebbles chirp
On the river bank?
Why can’t I learn to hate?
Why not me?
- Oh, Lord, what a tiresome child,
Sighs the angel.

[Published in CONTEMPORAN LITERAR ORIZONT, Anul II, nr. 5 (10), Iunie 2009]
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- AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES presents 'Childhood' and 'Journey' by Ana Blandiana. Click here -

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Hearing Other Voices

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Conceived of and implemented by Roger B. Humes in June of 2004,

The Other Voices International Project

is a cyber-anthology that erases the boundaries of nations, ethnicities, religions, cultures, and age in order to collect and present some of the world's best poetry.

To date, April 2008, Humes, himself a poet, has published 32 Volumes of poetry on his othervoicespoetry.org site. Each volume showcases 15 poets from around the world with samples of their work and a short biography.

Among the chosen poets are

Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003, Billy Collins;

Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish;

Jean-Michel Maulpoix, auteur d'ouvrages poétiques;

Multicultural poet, artist and translator Ana Elsner;

Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko;

Arab-American award winning poet and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye;

Jimmy Santiago Baca, of Chicano and Apache descent, founder of Cedar Tree, a non-profit organization for the empowerment of impoverished and imprisoned people through literacy.


Humes, founder and director of this international poetry project, goes about the choreography of content in a very selective way. As stated on the index page: "Participation in Other Voices is by invitation only". Humes is assisted by his artistic partner and co-director, Iranian poet and human rights activist Sheema Kalbasi.


An excerpt from the Mission Statement:

"The soul has become an endangered species and Art must regain its voice to save humanity from extinction.... To help you and I rediscover some semblance of our humanity, these OTHER VOICES INTERNATIONAL POETRY PROJECT writers creatively share the adventures, desires and dreams of the human heart and spirit, wherever it resides. Through this singular poetic voice we can claim unity in our diversity and strive to live in honor of human dignity."

The Other Voices International Project has been indexed by the World Poetry Directory of UNESCO under "journal", United States.

Other Voices is an outstanding resource to anyone who wishes to explore the vast world of international poetry. It is continually growing as new poets are added.

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Read Ana Elsner's poem about the Oboe


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[Related link: Read the biography of international poet Ana Elsner]


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