Kosovo

Alas! I wasn’t near the internet yesterday when I found out that Kosovo had declared independence from Serbia, making 17 February Kosovo's Independence Day. (It's exciting to be able to record a new independence day as it happens.) While Serbia has condemned the move, and is likely to be backed by Russia (according to the Washington Post, that is) it’s expected that the United States and others will get behind the move. It will be interesting in the coming weeks to see what unfolds. Based merely on the coverage I've seen, I'm using the Albanian flag here, as that was what Kosovars were waving.

Given this population difference, I’ve been looking for a poem from Albanian—while searching, I was interested to learn that the Albanian language was the last national language in Europe to be recorded.

I found an amazing resource in an anthology of poetry translated from the Albanian by Dr Robert Elsie, including poetry from Kosovo. The anthology, An Elusive Eagle Soars, is well worth a look. He provides background information on Albanian literature, including the developing literature of Kosovo, written in Albanian. He also provides good background information on the poets. I know I’ll be looking further into this anthology in the coming weeks.

The poet I have chosen from this embarrassment of riches is Din Mehmeti, born in 1932. He studied at the University of Belgrade, and is now, according to Elsie, “among the best-known classical representatives of contemporary verse in Kosovo.”


Dialogue with the lake

The lake has grown dark
The lake has gone mad

May my bark hold

On this side are your cliffs
Of bones
On the other side immortal dreams

May my bark hold

You once searched for a way out
In your heart

The cape of hope is far

The blood-red flowers
Will arrive

May my barracks hold.


-Din Mehmeti,
translated from the Albanian by Dr Robert Elsie
from the anthology An Elusive Eagle Soars: Anthology of Modern Albanian Poetry