A blue butterfly

A blue butterfly
comes to rest on my brow,
without a key, without a knock,
it opens the door of the soul
and measures
the depths of your feeling
against the pending dawns,
when night
parts from the sun.
And you, the new moon,
your orbit drawing near,
are burned
in the invisible flame
of a world awakening.
Just a breath of you
remains inside me –
enough
for another world,
without the moon,
and the old sun.

Under the Umbrella

With my glasses on,
I mistake you for the fog.
You dissolve into the wind,
drifting through the rain.
I, intoxicated,
wander the streets beneath an umbrella,
hoping
to see you again.
You walk toward me,
and the umbrella shrinks,
just enough
for one body,
and one soul.
When you rest your head
on my shoulder,
colours of the rainbow
rise from your eyes.

Wearing your glasses,
I pass above the fog.
The clouds unravel
like skeins across the sky.
Beneath the umbrella’s shelter,
the world expands,
the world rejoices-

in the rain and the sunlight.

The Ladies Dressed Black and White

I saw a lady dressed in white,
on a grey day of late fall,
she seemed like an unintentional lost vision,
coming here just like an echo.

I saw a lady dressed in black,
on a scorching day in June,
it seemed like the shadow released a breeze,
and the soul was touched by its hand.

When the ladies in rainbow clothes appear to me,
the usual dissolves into the season’s canvas.
The mysterious ones, in black and white clothes,
stop us, and we reflect just like we do in front of a mirror.

Nikollë Loka was born in Sang of Mirdita on March 25th, 1960; graduated as a teacher at Luigj Gurakuqi University of Shkodra; Master’s degree in Pedagogy at the University of Tirana, Doctorate in History of Education at the University of Tirana. He worked as a teacher, principal in a high school and education inspector in the district of Mirdita, then a teacher in a high school in Tirana and a lecturer at Aleksandër Xhuvani University in Elbasan. Lives in Tirana. Author of nine poetic volumes in Albanian and three poetic volumes in Italian (two of which with co-authors); included in the anthology La Poesie contemporaine albanaise, L’Hartmattan publications, Paris 2024. In addition to Albanian, his poems have been published in Italian, English, French, German, Arabic, Romanian, Swedish and Mecedonian. Invited to television and radio shows dedicated to literature. Editor and reviewer of several literary works, mainly in poetry. Winner of several literary awards in the country and abroad. Member of several national and international literary associations. Ambassador of culture in the organization International Foundation Creativity Humanity (IFCH)-Morocco. Included in the Lexicon of Albanian writers 1501-2001, editions Faik Konica, Pristina 2003 and in the Encyclopedia of Italian language poets, Aletti Editore, Rome 2021, then in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mirdita, editions Emal, Tirana 2021.

You can find more of Nikollë’s work here on Ink Pantry.