Poem by Zdenka Mlinar – Croatia (Prepared Angela Kosta)
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Poem by Zdenka Mlinar
Zdenka Mlinar lives and works in Zagreb and Velika Gorica, writes poetry and prose, reviews and short texts (miniature lyrics, aphorisms, haiku). She published ten independent collections of poems and is a member of several literary societies and associations.
Her works have been published in more than 200 domestic and foreign magazines, collections and anthologies, and she has received a number of awards, recognitions, certificates of appreciation, trophies and medals for her work.
Her haiku poems are represented in the bilingual anthology of Croatian haiku poetry "Uncut Sky 2" (2008 - 2018) and in the New Anthology "Modern Croatian Haiku, 2023". She is registered in the World Register of the Haiku Foundation and has been in the TOP 100 haiku poets of Europe for 5 years in a row.
She is also the literary editor and secretary of the Velika Gorica "Spark" Artists' Association and the original founder and president of the Zagreb Literary Club "Ilija Kozić Ladin" as well as the FB group of the same name, with whose members she organizes poetry events in honor of the great poet.
FOR YOU ARE LOVE
O Love, the Goddess and Mother of everything,
Whose strength and power we all need,
Here I come, for I carry you in my heart,
For in my chest there is your light.
Here I come, o life source and world’s parent,
Because of your grandeur which is sacred;
Because of everything that’s written about you and said,
Because of the strong desire to empower you in myself…
I’m coming, Love, so you should be my teacher
And to your chambers guide me as my leader;
I’d gladly be in your ministry,
To burn for you, to keep you company…
I know, many have slurred you name
And have repented in unbearable pain,
Their penance to raise churches and poorhouses,
But nothing has wiped evil sooth from their faces.
They’ve wrenched your fruit and trampled on with their feet,
Plucking it for themselves from the innocents’ trees;
Not knowing that your grandeur lasts forever
And recognizes a false repentance prayer…
For you are Love, the Mother who everything good creates,
For you, only you, are the other name the Lord takes.
GOD GIFTED YOU LOVE
God gifted you love, you say.
You write, sing, speak of it,
Wishing for no sin, in love you burn.
You, the smile of the Earth and sky,
The spark of the Sun, that life needs!
God gifted you a starry shine, too,
Immensity of the splendid Orion.
The Morning Star as your companion,
The miracle of angel wings.
Kind words as your remedy,
For a thirsty hermit to quench his thirst.
Love is your middle name,
Solace that caresses a heart's woe.
You are the blaze of an awaken dawn,
Amulet of an emerald summit...
You are a wave of lace hugging its sea.
……………………………………………
Prepared Angela Kosta Executive Director of MIRIADE Magazine, Academic, journalist, writer, poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, translator
