Rosemary Fields

Rosemary Fields



No one has spoken more beautifully of you

Than my soul has,

Fragrant with buds

That did not turn to blooms

But that still sated the hunger of my springtime

With songs flaming with desire.

No one has defended you with more fervour

Than the bloodied heart

While unslept dawns were dripping

And peonies bloomed in the fields,

I smudge you with the scent of violets

Instead of the incense so that

I would not love a traitor;

I chiseled your name in the stars,

So that the Pearly Gates may harbour us;

I let my soul float in your drunkenness.

Why did you let the clouds of hope fall?

And shatter a widow’s heart twice?

There will be no one to say your name

Once the trees burst out in blossoms, and

Once the wedding guests revel in the port,

Who will give the bride away?

I was summoning rosemary fields,

And you the reapers,

To reap and cut the roots of my soul within you.



(Translated from Serbian by Jana Begovic) 




Nerandza Kostic



Nerandža Kostić was born in Požarevac, Republic of Serbia. She lives and writes poetry in the town of Mosna, near Donji Milanovac in Serbia. Her first collection of poetry was published in 2017 under the title, “Under the Skin”, as a testimony to her life experiences.