Majlinda (Aleksandra) Shabani an Albanian Poetess by Teresinka Pereira

MAJLINDA (ALEKSANDRA) SHABANI AN ALBANIAN POETESS

by Teresinka Pereira

It is interesting to note that Aleksandra Shabani, a translator of hundreds of poems from English, Italian, French authors into Albanian, is able to keep her own style, without imitating or even showing influence of the poets she has translated so well! Her poetry has the originality in the most used themes like loneliness, silence, memories, time, and other poet's favorite topics. Her ability to write in English is excellent, and her poetry in English can circulate around the world and be very well understood. The poem "MUTED BREATH..." published in the OPEN LANE anthology of poetry by LNPSHA “Pegasi” has the duet theme of voice/ silence in a very original way. It is exact what Jorge Ventura said about poetry in one of his interviews : "Poetry is the unrest of the instant, the absurd necessity of expression. The open of our existence". Majlinda (Aleksandra's) verses say.:

Shshshsh...

I count 1,2,3...

My voice sounds strange...

I try again...

I don't want to remain simply

A prey of the vocalic attempt...

 I remain silent...

Like a mute person...

No eloquence or difficult metaphors, simply the feeling of the instant in the verse with the complete meaning. Poetry expose the soul and at the same time the person becomes the verse. It is true that silence can be the best answer, or can also be hard and hurt like a wound. But in order to hear the silence of the loved person one has to go inside her soul, like the Italian poet Anna Gatto says in her own verses:

Come inside

mi silence ...

and listen!

Majlinda (Aleksandra) Shabani describes in her poem how she can become in silence:

I fade away speechless...

I stop, play with moving lips...

I stammer as for the first time...

Silence...

I find space to circulate...

 I repeat between the intermediate...

I speak making fun in delirium...

The delirium is even more absurd than the dream: it is a nightmare in fever. There are collision of routes and when one can see herself from a delirium is urgent to shout. Poet Majlinda (Aleksandra) admits she can make fun of it. That is like to be in total control of her silence. Is to be strong and powerful! To acknowledge that the word is our material to think and to speak is to give life the right value. The poem ends like this:

At last the world kisses me

I want to emerge along with the breath…

The intermittent punctuation(…) represents very well, the silence in the poem.

The ego is a very used theme in poetry, and still is a very difficult one to handle. Women are more daring to use it than men. Poetesses pay more attention to their existence. Majlinda (Aleksandra) Shabani says in her poem” Short road: to the self” that “I do not get obsessed to close into myself…” and her poem turns out very positive because she accepts herself the way she is:

I don’t admit raving conditions

To harbor somewhere without

                                     address

The escape from myself…

The conclusion :

I will never betray myself

for another self…

some times our suffers the existence with unexpected happenings, but even hiding the tears can make us stronger and stop the  feeling of impotence. It feels good to dominate our steps without complaining. That is to love ourselves. The ego is like a heavy drug.