IVAN GAĆINA

IVAN GAĆINA

Chained By Damnation

The poor stuck

in the tents

in a forgotten

sooty alley.

From all sides

hustle and bustle

of hungry people.

The sound of violin breaks

the night's silence,

uncertainty everywhere.

A blind fortune-teller

predicts the future,

a wooden carriage

waits for better days.

As if time has stopped.

The rich dream of

non-existent

happiness,

chained by damnation,

they live someone else's sins.

A Home Made Of Wind

I travel

from one day to the next,

from one house to another,

from one nightmare

to another.

Far away is my native tent

while I wonder where

and if the future has

anything in store for me.

My wife

travels with me and on her own,

with children and without them,

with the sadness in her soul

and full of hope for a better life.

Maybe we will meet

once in a dream

there where, instead of hope,

a homemade of wind

waits for us and

carries us with it.

Daybreak On Zvezdara

In Veliki Vračar

entangled with Zvezdara

stars meet and,

with their light,

crown Belgrade avenues,

a criss-cross of paths

of human destinies.

Through the song of nightingales

the smell of coffee

surpasses in the glossy beauty

the Lipov Lad restaurant

while the waters of the Pasha's Fountain

carry away the unspoken wishes.

In the shade of

the sacred plane tree

an old Roma woman

sells extinct memories,

shards of the stars

exposing

the dawn of civilization.

IVAN GAĆINA

IVAN GAĆINA was born on April 15, 1981 in Zadar, the Republic of Croatia. He was a recipient of an honorary doctorate in literature in 2020. by The Institute for the Roma Studies of Europe and Researches Regarding the Crimes Against Humanity and International Law. Upon completion of the graduate studies in Business Computing at the University of Dubrovnik in 2010, he received the academic degree of Master in Computer Engineering and the cum laude honor. He is currently a high school teacher of electrical engineering. He writes poetry (including haiku), short stories, aphorisms, and book reviews. He is a member of many associations and societies. His work has been translated into several foreign languages, and he has received more than 100 awards at literary competitions, in his country and abroad. At the International Roma Poetry Festival “Tamo gde Sava ljubi Dunav” (There Where the Sava Kisses the Danube), organized by the Association of Roma Writers (Belgrade, September 28, 2019), he won “Slobodan Berberski” award for his lifetime achievement in literary work. At the 9th International Photo-Haiku Contest “Setouchi-Matsuyama” in Japan, held in 2020, Ivan Gaćina won Grand Prix in the “Your Photo-Haiku in English” category, to which 542 photo-haiku with original photos of the sea were submitted. POEMarium, Poetic Parley – 49, “Poet of Fortnightly” (February 15, 2020). Asian Literary Society (ALS), Weekly Poetry Contest 122, 1st Prize (March 22, 2020). He is the author of three poetry books: “Tebe traži moja rima” (KC Kalliopa, Našice, Croatia, 2014), “Tvorac misli / prolaznik u noći” (SVEN, Niš, Serbia, 2015) and “Okovani prokletstvom” (IK “Rrom produkcija” & Roma Writers Association, Belgrade, Serbia, 2018). His work is also included in over 300 collections and in a number of literary journals.