LEAF!

--a collaboration between the brilliant and beautiful Polish poetess, Jola Stoklova, and Mark Teague.

Leaf!

One tiny leaf,

Detached from its branch,

and carried by the wind

Takes with it my dreams and yearnings,

My prayers for the world's troubled.

 

Dance, oh, leaf!

Take these happy thoughts

To any who may need them

Show them that there is yet reason to hope

By your brilliant display!

 

Let them know that suffering has an end,

And that happiness will one day return...

 

The wind will be your vehicle,

Taking our messages abroad

To wheresoever care lingers or pain dwells,

 

So that now, wherever you land,

Whoever may take you in their hand

May my loving dreams understand!

 

February 8, 2010

a collaboration of Jola S. and Mark Teague

 

Listku!

Maleńki listku, który wiatr niesie

moich uczuć i pragnień jesteś przesłaniem

ludziom nieś radość w życiu niełatwym 

zatańcz w chmurach tańcem wesołym

uśmiech przyjaźni roześlij wszędzie

tęczowym kolorem nieś ukojenie

w sercach spokój wywołaj, a ból

i cierpienie zamień w szczęścia istnienie.

Wietrze potężny bądź drogowskazem

unoś go wszędzie, gdzie są marzenia

niech swoim delikatnym dotykiem

miłość wzburza i swą barwą

rozjaśnia wszystkim marzenia...

 ~Jola

© 2010 Jola

 

Author's Note

I don't remember who first steered me to Jola Stoklova, but I knew two things immediately: that she was an amazing poetess, and that she had little if any English, relying rather on a computerized translator. Needless to say, it was dreadful, but the beauty of her thoughts shone through nonetheless for that! So I offered to render her poem into something more easily comprehensible to the Americasn reader. Let me know if you think I succeeded!

Reviews

[Ruth]

One thing that strikes me about this work is the sheer delicate properties to it :) I have found some solace in this piece! xx

[KAREN]

Love the flow and the meaning, remids me of praying for better days.
The wind will be your vehicle,
Taking our messages abroad
To wheresoever care lingers or pain dwells

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

This poem reminds me of the funeral of Lindsay Delano Baker, a dear friend, a co-worker, and a wonderful man who served this country. He died on October 3, 2006; and I composed the following poem in memory of him:

In Memory of Lindsay Delano Baker - March 16, 1935 - October 3, 2006


The earth is moist from the falling rain,
a face washed pale in a bowl of tears.
In the sheer silence of sorrows stain,
we mourn the man we have loved for years.

His casket is cloaked in freedom's best.
He once saluted her mighty wave.
Now, he's conquered and laid to rest,
soon to be lowered into the grave.

Not a better man throughout the town,
he scattered smiles like a summer sky
till the knife of cancer cut him down,
too deep to live but too good to die.

He suffered more than a man should know
until winter's house became his home.
I shed a tear and glimpse a sparrow
winging its way into heaven's dome.

The trees all clad in the wintry chill,
bereft of all leaves except for one;
and as I watch it, silent and still,
it loses its grip and falls - undone.

No one notices how it descends,
landing on my hand like a lone dove,
a small token of how life transcends
to live in the hearts of those we love.

A thoughtful calm and a quiet grace
mingles sweetly among the flowers.
I close my eyes and can see his face,
knowing we are blessed that he was ours.

Isn’t it amazing how something so simple as a leaf, bereft of life, can inspire so much? Just as it falls to the ground, lifeless, to return to the earth, so, too, does the love we have for another return to the heart to inspire the breath of a new poem.

Aside from the few corrections noted, the sentiments are lovely.

Thank you for translating.

Linda Marie

[Samuel Dickens]

This one gets an "A", with its message of hope. Thank you for helping put her beautiful thoughts into a form suitable for my American ears.

[Cherrie Palmer]

Mark, you recreated a wonderful poem