Translated by Redi Sheqeri

There is an hour,

When the voices no longer recognize the words,

When, between light and darkness, the silence rises,

When bodies are weightless

And transmute into wings,

When our faces float on the waters,

With eyes wide open and frozen lips, till they sink

In a river that takes away all what we’ve gathered.

And then,

Whilst we are speechless,

Without any good or bad memory,

Mnemosyne nourishes us with a big chalice,

The sun bursts like a red egg,

Everything is ablaze – fire of creation,

We recall other lives,

Young and old ones.

Our journey has just begun:

With hungry eyes and ears

We head for the banquet of the muses,

Walking in an unknown land.

At this hour

We become children again,

Our soft marrow fills with music,

Our heads with light,

And now we know

What is Agape.

Agape

Kanjëorë,

Kurzëratnukinjohinmëfjalët,

Kurmesdritësdheerrësirësngrihetheshtja,

Kurtrupatzbrazenngapesha

Dhebëhenflatra,

Kurfytyrattonapluskojnëujërave

Syhapura, gojëngrira, derisafundosen

Nënjëlumëqëmerr me vetegjithëç’kemimbledhur.

Dheatëherë,

Ndërsajemi pa fjalë,

Pa kujtesëtëmirë a tëkeqe,

Mnemosina na mëkon me një gotë të madhe,

Dielli plas si një vezë e kuqe,

Gjithçka përflaket – zjarr krijimi,

Të tjera jetë na rimenden,

Tëreja a tëvjetra.

Udhëtimi ynë sapo ka nisur:

Hedhim hapa në një tokë të panjohur,

Shkojmë drejt gostisë së muzave,

Me sy e vesh të uritur.

Në këtë orë

Rikthehemi fëmijë,

Palca jonë e butë e mbushet me tinguj,

Koka me dritë,

Tashmë e dimë

Ç’është agape.

BELFJORE QOSE (Zifla) is an Albanian poet and prose writer. Her first poetry book “Aurat a natës” (Auras of the night, Ombra GVG Editions, 2017) was awarded a prize for young authors by the Ministry of Culture of Albania and voted by readers as the best Poetry Book at the Bukinist Literary Platform. She is a doctor in literary studies and professor at the University of Tirana. She is a founding member of the Albanian Young Academy, at the Albanian Academy of Science.