Thank you Darya for sharing the weight of your personal journey. It is up to us to extend our reach beyond our comfortable chairs grounded in The West to do something, anything we can do from calling our representatives and demanding US support for Ukraine and all those suffering from the barbarism of russian aggression, to writing letters to the editor, to giving as little or as much as we can to the organizations you highlight, to displaying the Blue and Yellow, and even just remembering and acknowledging that Belarusians too are a cruelly oppressed people yearning to be free.
That poem certainly puts things into perspective. I felt a burden lifted off my shoulders. When are we ever enough? How do we know if we're doing too little or too much? How many struggles can we endure and for how long? No one knows. But opening one's heart is the greatest gift to be given. Thanks for sharing.
As a GP I can just say you were right to open up. And you were lucky enough to meet with a doctor ready to listen and tolerate emotions. That's basic empathy.
What a beautiful poem. Placed within the context of humanity and the endless conflict we perpetrate against one another it’s irreplaceable. Is there a copy of the book printed in English? I did a quick search and found a bilingual anthology of Belarusian poets, but no link to purchase a copy. Your voice here is unique and very much needed. Thank you for sharing. I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts and learned a lot (and look forward to learning more).
Thank you, Mike! Yes, the book "Like Water, Like Fire: an Anthology of Byelorussian Poetry from 1828 to the Present Day," published in 1971, is, unfortunately, the only extensive Belarusian poetry collection in English. Not only is the book outdated and uses Soviet colonial names such as "Byelorussian," but the selection of the poems was heavily influenced by the Soviet authorities and censorship. That's why I find it so important to translate and publish the works of Belarusian writers in this newsletter, as most Belarusian works are available only in Belarusian and are hidden from the English-speaking audience.
Thank you for translating that poem and recording it, my husband and I listened to it on the other side of the world so your voice, and the sounds of Belarusian art, are spreading far and wide, never to be forgotten or suppressed. It’s a beautiful poem.
I know this feeling of that particular "weight" as prelonged historic/social pain, as a child born in Poland to a father who was a psychiatrist, Darya... of course its a burden that creates an interior overwhelming stress... I hope you"ll paint again, but it's not easy to restart, because your heart has kind of "changed" during these hardships. I also "stopped" writing a historic novel that took place during the 2WW in Poland...
Thank you for the beautiful poem! And that doctor must have been the right one! 🙏🏼 🕊️
Thank you, Claudia! My heart has indeed changed, but as one of my artist friends said, “Yes, you changed, but this change will transform into a deeper work when you are ready. Your experiences enrich your work, not take away from it.”
Thank you! Ukrainian and Belarusian are more related to each other (84% of related vocabulary) than each of these languages is related to Russian. Ukrainian and Belarusian are close to Polish (70% of related vocabulary). Polish and Russian are very far away. I found this article about the languages that explains it in more detail: https://www.ukrainer.net/en/what-is-the-ukrainian-language/
After university, I took a linguistics course, and this site reminded me a lot of what I had learned, except this time it was about Ukrainian.
No language is all alone, every one lets us communicate, directly or indirectly, with the rest of the world. We all share vocabulary with other languages, but adapted to our lingusistic environment.
I'm French speaking (as well as English), and the "language" combining French with English influence was called "Joual" (for
French "cheval", horse in English). It had many English words, but kept the French grammar.
It arose with French speakers from rural areas coming to English-dominated cities. It has died out now that French has acquired more status in the French-speaking regions of Canada.
Thank you Darya for sharing the weight of your personal journey. It is up to us to extend our reach beyond our comfortable chairs grounded in The West to do something, anything we can do from calling our representatives and demanding US support for Ukraine and all those suffering from the barbarism of russian aggression, to writing letters to the editor, to giving as little or as much as we can to the organizations you highlight, to displaying the Blue and Yellow, and even just remembering and acknowledging that Belarusians too are a cruelly oppressed people yearning to be free.
Thank you for your support, Mark!
That poem certainly puts things into perspective. I felt a burden lifted off my shoulders. When are we ever enough? How do we know if we're doing too little or too much? How many struggles can we endure and for how long? No one knows. But opening one's heart is the greatest gift to be given. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Meeri!
As a GP I can just say you were right to open up. And you were lucky enough to meet with a doctor ready to listen and tolerate emotions. That's basic empathy.
Thank you, Christophe! I know, I was very lucky.
What a beautiful poem. Placed within the context of humanity and the endless conflict we perpetrate against one another it’s irreplaceable. Is there a copy of the book printed in English? I did a quick search and found a bilingual anthology of Belarusian poets, but no link to purchase a copy. Your voice here is unique and very much needed. Thank you for sharing. I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts and learned a lot (and look forward to learning more).
Thank you, Mike! Yes, the book "Like Water, Like Fire: an Anthology of Byelorussian Poetry from 1828 to the Present Day," published in 1971, is, unfortunately, the only extensive Belarusian poetry collection in English. Not only is the book outdated and uses Soviet colonial names such as "Byelorussian," but the selection of the poems was heavily influenced by the Soviet authorities and censorship. That's why I find it so important to translate and publish the works of Belarusian writers in this newsletter, as most Belarusian works are available only in Belarusian and are hidden from the English-speaking audience.
A beautiful poem. We need to remember this when life gets overwhelming.Thank you!
Thank you, Valerie!
“We are only travelers in the sky.”
Really hope you can paint something again soon, Darya.
Thank you.
Thank you, Paul!
Thank you for translating that poem and recording it, my husband and I listened to it on the other side of the world so your voice, and the sounds of Belarusian art, are spreading far and wide, never to be forgotten or suppressed. It’s a beautiful poem.
Thank you, Tanya! It means a lot to hear ❤️
I know this feeling of that particular "weight" as prelonged historic/social pain, as a child born in Poland to a father who was a psychiatrist, Darya... of course its a burden that creates an interior overwhelming stress... I hope you"ll paint again, but it's not easy to restart, because your heart has kind of "changed" during these hardships. I also "stopped" writing a historic novel that took place during the 2WW in Poland...
Thank you for the beautiful poem! And that doctor must have been the right one! 🙏🏼 🕊️
Take care, dear Darya! ❤️
Thank you, Claudia! My heart has indeed changed, but as one of my artist friends said, “Yes, you changed, but this change will transform into a deeper work when you are ready. Your experiences enrich your work, not take away from it.”
I agree, the doctor definitely was the right one.
Of course, the deepening comes - side by side...and will never leave.
❤️🕊️
Your doctor was right the world is a better place with people like you in it.
Thank you!
As always, you enlighten us with beautiful poetry and other insights into Belarus & Ùkraine.
That makes me curious about how close are the languages of Belarus, Ukraine, Poland & Russia ?
They are known as slavic languages, but my understanding stops there.
Thank you! Ukrainian and Belarusian are more related to each other (84% of related vocabulary) than each of these languages is related to Russian. Ukrainian and Belarusian are close to Polish (70% of related vocabulary). Polish and Russian are very far away. I found this article about the languages that explains it in more detail: https://www.ukrainer.net/en/what-is-the-ukrainian-language/
Thanks for the reference, Darya !
After university, I took a linguistics course, and this site reminded me a lot of what I had learned, except this time it was about Ukrainian.
No language is all alone, every one lets us communicate, directly or indirectly, with the rest of the world. We all share vocabulary with other languages, but adapted to our lingusistic environment.
I'm French speaking (as well as English), and the "language" combining French with English influence was called "Joual" (for
French "cheval", horse in English). It had many English words, but kept the French grammar.
It arose with French speakers from rural areas coming to English-dominated cities. It has died out now that French has acquired more status in the French-speaking regions of Canada.
Similar to what happened in Ukraine.
Thank you for sharing! Very interesting!
Good luck with your diagnosis!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻