By Violeta Kadriu
I am waiting for you under the linden’s shade,
to kiss your lips like watermelon,
let the scent of the linden make us drunk,
let fiery passion lift us above the clouds!
I am waiting for you tonight under the chestnut trees,
let their blossoms leave us senseless,
let’s not waste this spring in vain,
may our year pass with joy, without tears.
I am waiting for you tonight right by the fig tree,
to hear your voice like an archangel’s,
to smell your fragrance, to feel you,
to get drunk with you without rakia.
I wait where the grass sprouts and the river gurgles,
where spring blooms, turns green, and the dove sings in duet!
Where the pear always blossoms, the cherry and the apple,
where the robin sings with longing, where the slender-waisted girl plays and laughs with delight.
Where the hawthorn and the rosehip give off sweet scent,
where the bee sips nectar and the bird chirps sweetly.
I wait here where there is plenty of basil and laurel,
where the violet hides in the thorn and the clover makes rainbows.
Where the cicada buzzes and the nightingale sings,
where the firefly lights its lantern as the rose opens.
I wait in these places where a spirit of kindness reigns,
where a current of honor and faith rules and love’s stake pierces.
I wait for you even in distant mountains where the echo pierces your ears,
there where the deer frolic and the bell is heard with joy.
Where our loving words mingle with the mountain’s echo,
where the stars, “we envy you,” seem to tell us from on high.
I wait in these places where a mother’s endurance rules,
where every evil of the soul melts with fairy magic.
I wait in these places where the oak’s strength devours you,
where all are martyrs, where the soil turns red and white.
On every side of the homeland, I wait for you everywhere,
oh star, oh light, oh breath, if YOU don’t come, I will die!
Violeta Kadriu is a poet from Podujevë, Kosovo
