I have met a man who used to smile only

I have met a man who used to smile only,
before he repented caught in guilt.
I have met a man who used to be happy simply in vain,
without ever explaining himself
why the world bursts out in tears.

I have asked him how does he know the world,
which seems upside down!
And after every question I have received tens of answers
that convinced me not!

So I have waited that one day he would ask himself,
simply in vain a question made public!
But I was afraid he would not reply,
so I have run and in the silence,
I have seen the world undressed, naked!

You will change

You will change
what is the point of an evening that comes,
and your shadow and the end of a day that leaves,
when the sun stays distant and the moon does not draw near.
The dusk stops for a while waiting to decay,
the dusk falls in the darkness the horizons close in the meantime,
the absences collapse in nothingness.
Slowly even your shadow abandons you,
and here comes the hour when there is no evening left!
What the dusk is speaking today,
everyone thinks is meant for tomorrow,
a new dawn where you have to change
and you will change no matter what!

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.