Deszczowy chleb. Wiersze z wygnania - 40 poems in Polish from Trochimczyk's The Rainy Bread (2024)

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Moonrise Press issued a Polish translation and revision of 40 poems from Maja Trochimczyk's The Rainy Bread of 2021; in two format, paperback and E-book in PDF Format (the latter available only on lulu.com due to the presence of Polish fonts other ebook format are not supported by the distributor). 

Buy it now: Ebook. ISBN 978-1-945938-78-8, PDF, 68 pages, $10.00
Buy it now: Paperback. ISBN 978-1-945938-77-1, 68 pages, 40 poems, $20.00

The book contains Polish translations of 40 poems from Maja Trochimczyk's volume of poetry, "The Rainy Bread: More Poems from Exile." Published in 2021 (first edition in 2016), the collection of 63 poems describes the tragic experiences of Poles during and after WWII, especially the author's family, originating from the country's eastern Borderlands (Baranowicze and the surrounding areas). Some poems capture the trauma, resilience, ordeals, and miraculous survival stories of the author’s immediate family. Their experiences of displacement, hunger, cold, and poverty during the war are typical of Polish civilians. They were killed, deported, imprisoned, or starved after the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939.. They were deported to Siberia, the Arctic Circle, or Kazakhstan. Some left the Soviet Union with the Second Corps of the Polish Army under the command of General Władysław Anders. Others were transported to refugee camps in India or Africa; and ended up in Argentina, Canada, Australia or the U.S. The focus is not the tragedy itself, but the power of will, the resilience, and the strength of character that safeguarded their survival. The English-language book is an expanded edition of "The Rainy Bread: Poems from Exile" (30 poems, 2016) and a companion to "Slicing the Bread" (25 poems, 2014).

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​≡ PIEŚŃ O KLUCZU ≡

       ~ dla Tomasza Kuby Kozłowskiego i jego Mamy

To jest klucz.
To jest żelazny klucz.
To jest duży, żelazny klucz.
To stary, duży, żelazny klucz.
Klucz, który moja Mama nosiła w torebce.
To stary, duży, kuty klucz mojej Mamy.
Nosiła go codziennie w torebce.

To jest pole.
To jest płaskie pole.
To płaskie, puste pole.
To płaskie, puste pole na Ukrainie.
Tu była kiedyś Polska. Płaskie, puste pole
gdzie kiedyś stał dom mojej Mamy, otoczony
wysokim drewnianym płotem z wysoką drewnianą bramą,
z solidnym, dużym zamkiem z kutego żelaza.

Powiedzieli jej: pakuj się!
Powiedzieli jej: won stąd!
Powiedzieli jej: wynoś się!
To nasza ziemia.

Nie ma już domu.
Nie ma już płotu.
Nie ma już bramy.

To jest klucz.

 ≡ A SONG FOR A KEY ≡

                 ~ for Tomasz Kuba Kozłowski and his Mother

This is a key.
This is an iron key.
This is a large, iron key.
This is an old, large, iron key.
A key my mother carried in her purse.
This is an old, large, wrought-iron key my mother 
carried in her purse every single day.

This is a field.
This is a flat field.
This is a flat, empty field.
This is a flat, empty field in the Ukraine
that used to be Poland. A flat, empty field 
where my mother’s house once stood, surrounded 
by a tall wooden fence with a tall wooden gate, 
and a solid, large, wrought-iron lock.

They told her: pack!
They told her: go!
They told her: out!
You do not belong.
This is our land.

There is not house.
There is no fence.
There is no gate.

This is the key.