The Pearls of Love/Review

MAY THE LAW OF THE UNIVERSE AND HARMONY WITH THE WORLD BE REFLECTED IN THE DEPTHS OF THE SOUL

By: Yang, Geum-Hee (President of Jeju PEN Club)

Yang, Geum-Hee 

Angela Kosta 

It brings me great joy and heartfelt pleasure to celebrate the publication of the poetry collection The Pearls of Love by the esteemed poet Angela Kosta in Korea. I extend my warmest congratulations.

Angela Kosta has long devoted herself to international poetic exchange, guided by a deep love for humanity. With her vast global literary network, she has passionately supported the works of writers around the world. Especially as Vice President of the Korean Association of World Literature, she has played a significant role in introducing Korean writers to global audiences. Thanks to her dedication, Korean literature has been featured in prominent international media, helping to elevate its global stature. As the second President of the Korean World Literature Association, I express my sincere gratitude and respect for her noble spirit and unwavering commitment.

Angela Kosta was born in Elbasan, Albania, located in the western Balkans, and has lived in Italy since 1995. She is well-known internationally as the Executive Director of the literary magazine MIRIADE, a translator, essayist, journalist, literary critic, publisher, and poet. To date, she has published 28 books—including novels, poetry, and children's literature—in Albanian, Italian, English, Turkish, Arabic, and French, continuing her vigorous literary activity. Her literary works and translations have been featured in journals and newspapers across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and she actively collaborates with multinational media outlets.

She has contributed as a co-author to numerous international anthologies and has translated the works of over 170 writers between Albanian and Italian. Moreover, she has actively promoted over 600 poets and 85 artists in both domestic and international literary journals. She has also translated the poetry collections of eight poets from Albania and Kosovo, and has rendered into multiple languages the works of many renowned classical and aristocratic Italian poets.

She serves not only as Vice President of the Korean Association of World Literature but also as Vice President of a humanist organization and as a cultural and peace ambassador for nonprofit organizations in Bangladesh, Poland, Morocco, Canada, Algeria, Egypt, Mexico, Romania, India, Yemen, and other countries. As a Korean reader, I am truly delighted to see her poetry published in Korea.

Albania and the Republic of Korea established diplomatic relations in 1991. Reading Angela Kosta’s poetry, I am deeply moved and saddened by the painful reality and suffering her country endures. Although Albania may feel unfamiliar to us, the bonds of friendship can be strengthened simply because we are fellow inhabitants of the same planet under a shared sky.

Just as a pearl is born only after enduring time and struggle inside a shell, a poet perceives the world through the windows of the soul, gaining insight and expressing it in a new language to share with the world. Through this process, the poet reflects the law of the universe and harmony with the world in the depths of the soul. In this context, The Pearls of Love by Angela Costa contains profound emotions for all of Albania. Her work is rooted in observations of her country’s harsh reality, and explores the inner life of humanity.

For ordinary people who believe they can never transcend the limits set by fate, the duality of despair and hope may be the most difficult choice. Yet, we must not stop striving to sing together for hope. I have seen a tiny seed, no larger than a grain of millet, take root between rocks and grow into a majestic tree. Because I have witnessed such miracles, I continue to dream of hope that lies beyond the hills of suffering.

Just as a beautiful butterfly is born through the painful process of egg–larva–pupa, the beautiful wings of hope require suffering to unfold. We all carry bruises and wounds in our hearts. Poems written in moving and beautiful language are often written over those wounds, becoming healing balms that offer hope and courage. The more people become rich in hope, the warmer and more livable the world will be. I hope that her poetry will become such a healing balm.

Through beautiful and powerful poetry, we can overcome sorrow and pain, and poetry can become a light that brightens even the darkest nights. It is a flower of consolation, a beacon of peace for the heart. In order for the delicate flame of hope to burn brightly and illuminate the world, the warm support of readers who read and cherish poetry is essential. Moreover, for poems written in other languages to reach Korean readers, they must be translated and published with the highest poetic sensibility and linguistic refinement.

Thanks to the noble humanitarian spirit of Dr. Kang Byeong-Cheol, founding president of the Korean World Literature Association, Angela Costa’s poetry has been published in Korea in a trilingual edition—Korean, English, and Italian. As a Korean reader, I am deeply pleased to encounter the poetry of an Albanian poet in my country. I also pay tribute to Dr. Kang Byeong-Cheol for his dedication to this meaningful endeavor, building a literary bridge for international exchange in world literature.

Angela Kosta’s poetry, born from careful observation of Albania’s circumstances, absorbs and integrates the human experience shaped by suffering and deep reflection. Her poems discover truths unfolding in the human world. Like a radiant pearl formed within a small shell through patient endurance, may her poetry offer comfort and hope even in dark times, and may the law of the universe and harmony with the world be reflected in the depths of the soul—moving and inspiring readers in Korea and around the world.

By: Poet Ms.Yang, Geum-Hee

Second President, Korean World Literature Association President, Jeju PEN, Honorary Ph.D., Vice President of Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation, Former Special Professor, Jeju International University, Editorial Writer, Samda Ilbo 

Poems by Jakhongir Nomozov

BALLAD OF CHILDHOOD

Childhood—

the dusty streets where I ran barefoot,

a bowl of water,

and a small piece of bread.

Childhood— the hopeful miracles of my life,

those days when I believed

that one could live forever

beneath the shade of a single tree.

When the moon rose— it chased after us,

and the stars… were the light

falling into my mother’s tears.

Now I look to the sky—

and it feels so low, so very low…

as if, to take back my childhood,

the heavens keep shrinking closer

to the reach of my hands.

I once thought childhood

was a single round loaf of bread—

I gave half to a bird,

ate half myself,

and the remaining half…

where have these fleeting years scattered it?

Life—

where have you hidden my childhood?

Now, no longer do we race through the streets,

instead the years themselves

race with us.

Today we flee backwards,

from grown-up life into childhood.

But in my eyes—

not wonder anymore,

only the trembling light

of tomorrow’s fears.

When musician winds played their music,

The rains had also sung their quiet song.

Until the moon had done make up in the sky,

Woken up from its heavy sleep the Sun.

The alarm clock is ringing "Wake up!" and “Wake up”,

Someone is awake, others are in slumber.

If only you knew that cage is home, but sadness,

Come here! You too join this life, dear...

Tear away the sadness lying in your eyes,

Banish the sad voices from your heart and soul.

Do take steady pace with firm confidence,

Fill your every day with a miracle, be full...

***

My devotion to you weighed heavily,

My love cost me a lot, what should I do then?

"I found true happiness in your heart, my love,

Did you become happy by letting me down?

I was lost, by losing reached my own soul,

These frauds and cunnings have opened my eyes.

Whose heart are you now getting slowly in?

And someone is leaving your heart, say good byes.

***

I got wet without getting in water,

Slanders poured down like rain.

I went back without starting my way,

I was defeated without having fought.

Sprinkling dust with my tears,

I sweep them with my eyelashes.

Don’t you consider me a human?

As if you are a human yourself!

Learned from the devils yesterday,

Became their teacher she today.

□   

MIRACLE

When musician winds played their music,

The rains had also sung their quiest song.

Until the moon had done make up in the sky,

Woken up from its heavy sleep Sun.

The alarm clock is ringing “Wake up!” and “Wake up!”

Someone is awake, othersare in slumber.

If only you knew that cage is home, but sadness,

Come herel You too join this life, dear…

Thear away the sadness lying in your eyes,

Banish the sad voices from your heart and soul.

Do take steady pace with firm confidence,

Fill your every day with a miracle, bu full…

I WANDERED

I wandered and strolled million years,

Million years I begged for calmness, my Lord.

Shadows of hatred crossed my road

Million years I did not utter any word.

Oh the pain of living hopeless days,

Oh my futile wishes, flippant disease.

Oh you wine of love in my goblet

Oh love – unconsumed for million years.

I WRAPPED

I wrapped myself with old troubles,

My head is veiled with distress again.

I had promised to cry no more, but

My eyes are weeing like a heavy rain.

Picture of sorrow is in my eyes today

Like an ancient book my heart is in dust.

My life is confusing like a whirlwind

Flowers of my hope turned all yellow, alas.

I am awake while I am sleeping

I pray even though I am asleep.

I am apart from this world and time

Do you know, where had I lost myself?

Stars of the night – my sorrow, my pain

And the night itself – very loyal friend.

Indeed, I didn’t love, I were not loved?

My hatred of myself will never come to end.

My dreams take to the memory land

I hold a heap of crumpled photos in my fist

If only you would return back to me

Oh happiness left in our old pictures.

Godly sorrow blossoms in my chest

It is the great love, a poem lifelong.

It will reach souls of mankind forever

With all my heart if I sing a song.

My soul, never give up because of the pain

Always stay ready to battle, to fight.

With the heart full of sincere wishes

I welcome morning’s early light.

Oh my heart, be pure as a sheet of paper,

Dreams are different, goals are alive.

There is no any space for sorrow

I call you happiness, new page of life!

* * *

My footsteps get heavier

The more I walk, the heavier these roads.

I could not know whether Almighty

Had sent to me these exams and odds?

My dawns get fully darkened

When I woke up with sorrow

When all of my wishes fell down

When I am in fire above and below.

Sitting alone with loneliness,

I drink my pain uttering a toast.

If I open my eyes from dreaming

I fell down from the sky to the dust.

You my dreams, please become my life

Unhappy days are only daydream ever.

Oh God, wake me up from my life but

Let me to be in dream forever.

□

PAIN

Love is absorbed into my body,

I cannot help singing a love song.

Each of these poems that I wrote

Is an oath I gave to the truth.

The sparks you see in my eyes

Are the lights come from Heaven

And the wishes bloomed in my heart

Are the mirabilis you have never seen.

My hope will never wither, dry up

Spring always flourish my soul.

There is a great pain which is able to

Flourish my veins and bones at all.

I was made from love of The Almighty

Does the life know who I am?

In my tiny body, in my little chest

How much talent and love do I have?

Does the life know who I am?

* * *

Life killed all the passion of mine,

Squeezing my heart like pomegranate.

He wanted to make my gentle white soul

Put on the sorrow’s black garment.

All my hope is becoming weaker and fading

My mountains collapsing down to earth.

Day by day my feet are plunging

Day by day my soul is losing its strength.

Lightning is crashing inside of me

As if my chest will be cleaved.

I am afraid, oh my Lord, I am so afraid

What if the whole sky falls down to my head?

* * *

□

SONG OF BELIEF

I wander in the gardens of my dream,

When the surroundings are under the moonlight.

I lie down being smeared with happiness

When the sky is hugging his stars tight.

Angels sing their lullaby for me

I sleep calmly with pleasure in peace.

Belief of tomorrow rises within my heart

I believe my future will occur like this.

My hands reach to stars, even to the moon

If only I decide to stretch them a bit.

The eyes of the sun will become blind

If only I stare a minute at it.

The eyes of the sun will melt…

* * *

I missed you dear, I missed a lot

Not willing to step in the path of lovesick.

Although I forget the oldest memories

My clothes hold the smell of your cheek.

Darling, these distances separated us

Our love weakened not reaching to destination.

Every second of mine passes seeking for you

May happiness be waiting us the next station.

The roses which I bought for you

Are withering and becoming yellow.

All the sickness of my heart is yours,

I sent you fragrance of spring, my love.

***

I failed to meet the rivers, my God

Sorrow encircled the days and the weeks.

The streams looking up for me dried

Because of the merciless sickness.

I failed to meet the width, my God

I got locked up in my room alone.

Swallow warbled so as to inform me that

Spring had come and already has gone.

I failed to meet my dreams, my God

Uploading all the sorrow to my shoulders.

Pains did enslave my pure soul

Have I been a slave of my old tortures?

I failed to meet seas, my God

Fiery breath burns my throat.

Bring me the smell freedom, please

And bring me news on liberty, free wind.

* * *

As if they caught a glimpse of something

Dogs yell and bark without any pause.

It is obvious that seeing the devil

Mulberries slightly rave in their dreams.

Having a doubt from something weird

Water in springs go on murmuring.

As if the horror of the death

Is closer to us in the night.

* * *

I cannot believe in what I trust

Indeed, spring returned to my heart?

I did not feel inconvenience,

All the ropes for me pulled apart.

Thank you, God, everything happened true

Ices of my soul melted in my eyes.

My goblet was filled with gold pieces

Goodness, I got rid of unhappiness.

□

- Jakhongir Nomozov

Uzbekistan 

ABOUT THE POET:-

Jakhongir Nomozov, born on January 24, 1997, in the Pop district of Namangan region, is a distinguished journalist, poet, and translator. He serves as a correspondent for Uzbekistan in various Azerbaijani publications, including "Butov Azerbaijan" newspaper and "YAZARLAR" journal, and represents the Turkish state "SIIR SARNICI" electronic magazine in Uzbekistan. A member of several prestigious international organizations, including the Azerbaijan Journalists' Union and the World Young Turkic Writers Union, Nomozov has received numerous awards, such as the "Abay" medal and "Pride of Science" award. He has published several books, including "Rebels in My Heart", "Sacred Space", "Awakening Song", and "Breath of the Sun", and his poems have been featured in international anthologies and publications in over 25 countries, including Kazakhstan, Turkey, India, and the United States. Nomozov is a student of the University of Journalism and Mass Communications and has been recognized with the "Guzel Alania Award" by the Turkish state. He is also an official ambassador of the Asih Sasami Indonesia Foundation to Uzbekistan and a member of the Azerbaijan Turan Writers' Union.