Story Time

A lovely poem by Maxima in Croatian and translated into English by Irina Dimitric

 

Written: © Maxima

Croatian

Bakin spomenar

Kada mi baka uvečer priđe,
Pod miškom drži spomenar.
Tada sam sretan,
Jer dobro znam,
Da ide bajka,
Meni za dar.

A baka važno,
Započme priču.
U davna, davna vremena bijaše
Vještica strašna
Na metli jaše
Za njom tisuće vilenjaka,
I samo zjevaju da djecu plaše

Umračnoj sobi, mukla tišina.
Za oblak skri se mjesečina.
Može li bakice neka druga
Mene je strah a noć je duga

Baka se zamisli…
Onda zastade
Pa dobro,sinko,
Bit će neka druga
Sada mi spavaj,
Jer noć je duga

English

When Maxima approached me with a request to translate this poem, my first reaction was, No, I can’t do it, that’s too difficult. Then I thought, Well, I can at least try, and if I’m pleased with it, if I succeed in writing lines in English that create the same charm and the same flow as the original, I’ll send it to him. So here it is. Maxima is very pleased with my translation, which makes me very happy indeed. I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out.

Cheers Irina

Written: © Maxima

Story Time

In the evening
When Granny comes to me
There’s a book under her arm.
Happy am I
For I know full well
A fairy tale will be
Her gift to me.

And Granny starts a tale
With an important air:
Once upon a time, long ago
A terrible witch
On her broom did ride
With one thousand warlocks
Following behind
They just yawned, then stared
And thus the little children scared.

In the dark room, dead silence reigns
Behind a cloud the moonlight’s gone.
Granny, a different story, please
I’m scared and the night is long.

Granny ponders…
Then she whispers
Very well, my dear
Another story I shall tell.
But now go to sleep,
For the night is long.

Thank you my friend!
Stefan Maxima

Irina Is My and Our Friend

“~ Irina Dimitric~

I’m a budding blogger. Poetry and photography are my newest passions, living in perfect harmony inspiring each other. I like both free verse and form poetry and am quite proud to let you know that I am the creator of a new form named ‘tercetonine’.
“Born and bred in ex-Yugoslavia I migrated to Australia in 1964, aged 29, with my husband and young son. I was employed as a teacher of French and English for Speakers of Other Languages at TAFE Sydney Institute until my retirement in 1993.
Blog Name: Irina’s Poetry Corner”
Blog Name:Irina’s Poetry Corner
Book ‘Dreams On My Pillow’ was published July 1, 2014

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