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Maria Duszka at the Krotoszyn Cultural Center
through our lives like thoughts that we hav- en’t managed to express.
There’s something of these thoughts in Dusz- ka’s poetry – it is short, clear, without excess. It doesn’t dazzle with metaphors or build lin- guistic labyrinths. And yet – it instils. It stays for a long time, precisely because it touches people exactly where they generally are – lost in everyday thoughts, in anxiety, in their ordi- nary desire for intimacy. These poems are like letters written to oneself and to the reader at the same time – sincere, unobtrusive, natural. The title choice is not accidental. Clouds – in their simplicity and symbolism – become an image of human emotions and inner moods. There are cloudless days – full of light and peace. There are also windy, stormy days, full
of tension. Duszka doesn’t avert her eyes from either. She allows them to be – unconditionally. As if she were saying: “This is who you are – in the light and in the shadows – and that’s fine”. Birutė Jonuškaitė’s Lithuanian translation is a separate value. Her sensitivity as a transla- tor – already proven in the poetry of the great- est – hits the tone of Duszka with exceptional accuracy. What’s noticeable here is that the translator converses with the text rather than translates it – conveying its meaning, rhythm, and delicacy, without a trace of intrusive in- terpretation. Thanks to this, Duszka’s poetry remains true to itself, even though it chang- es language. The above proves true poetry is more universal than the words with which it is written.
I remember Maria Duszka’s meeting with readers in Krotoszyn through the prism of these poems – her modesty, warmth, and tenderness towards the world were exactly like her poetry. Perhaps that’s why this vol- ume resonates so much – because it’s some- what an extension of the person, not a mask of the poet. There are no poses here. There’s mindful awareness.
Duszka’s poems are like a window opened early in the morning. Maybe nothing’s hap- pening yet, but you can already feel the an- ticipation. And it’s up to us whether we hear this silence. The volume Freedom of Clouds / Debesų laisvė is not a manifesto, but an in- vitation to stop. Listen. Look around. Maybe the clouds would tell more than expected.
Maria Duszka Wolność chmur / Debesų laisvė Published by Vilnius: Homo Liber Sieradz: Prof Art 2016
Translated by Agnieszka Rezanow-Stöcker
styczeń–marzec 2025 LiryDram 189
fot. Marcin Szyndrowski