Poem of the Week By Irma Kurti
Biography:
IRMA KURTI is an Albanian poet, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator and has been writing since she was a child. She is a naturalized Italian and lives in Bergamo, Italy. All her books are dedicated to the memory of her beloved parents, Hasan Kurti and Sherife Mezini, who have supported and encouraged every step of her literary path. Irma Kurti has published 30 books in Albanian, 25 in Italian, 16 in English, and two in French. She has also translated 21 books by different authors, and all of her own books into Italian and English. Her books have been translated and published in 17 countries.
Backstory:
This is one of the many poems that I have dedicated to my mom. It was written on one of the most difficult days of my life, when she passed away and when I still hoped in front of her lifeless body that her death was a game, a bitter joke, and she would still be near me. If it were not for her, for my parents, I would not have continued on my literary path. Thus, poetry after her last goodbye became my salvation.
YOU SLEEP
You rest peacefully immersed in a deep sleep:
neither the strongest winters can wake you now,
nor the rumble of thunder that comes as a grunt,
nor the sounds of this obscure and desolate sky.
Not even this feeling that pulses in my heart
for you, my voice that is changed into a scream,
not even the echo of all our shared memories,
the chirping of the birds, that sweet symphony.
Not even the rivers of my tears wake you up,
so I have to swallow my shout like bread;
it crashes into the abyss found within me,
and then it suddenly vanishes to be born again.
Yet your smile is without a shadow of sadness,
just as you had it in your life: serene, calm.
That alone confuses me, so I don’t know what
to do: wake you up or just let you sleep, Mom?
© 2025 Irma Kurti