Three poems by JASNA GUGIĆ

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

How gently

you seduce me,

some summer evening

with a guitar and wine,

on the beach by the sea,

boldly,

with the smile

of an irresistible boy.

I know you think

I fall for that sweetness,

and so

I deliberately allow you

to touch

the tip of my lips

and to believe

that you are taking the stars down for me,

while the sky is cloudy,

dark,

and without a gleam.

I allow you,

before you leave,

to lift the veil from my eyes

and bite my neck.

Now that I have caught you

in my game,

I let you stay here,

so loud in my silence

that you shout and laugh,

even though it gets on my nerves.

I will let you,

just for today,

believe that you are mine.

Take

these restless hands,

warm them

before winter comes,

buried beneath the snow.

With the first snow,

all the magic will disappear,

and you and I

will be nothing but supporting actors

on the stage

of a dirty life.

FOREVER

My nights smell
of your touch of rosemary,
crushed upon my pillow.

You are my universe
in the wilderness of my ego.
You know how to keep me
longer than the others,
perhaps for a lifetime.

I look at you indifferently,
while inside me screams
a wild love,
forgotten long ago.

I will cover my face
with the golden veil of the sun
so you will not see
the sadness of departure.

I succeeded,
as expected,
in playing yet another role.

And when I am driving
along the road to nowhere,
I will ask myself why
I always touch the edges
and run away,
while love, all my life,
has been around me
and within me
in a million ways.

I would like to bind myself to you
with chains of love,
forever.

To stay,
not to leave,
not to forget.

And I don't know why,
I will gamble with love,
with life,
with you.

And once again I will leave,
as I have a million times before,
and you will remain,
wondering who I am.

Don't ask me.
You will never
find the answer.

I am the wind,
a tidal wave,
and a tornado
that lays waste to everything
in its path.

Run from me.
I will destroy your joy,
I will steal your peaceful sleep.

Let me walk
to the edges
of my dream.

RAINBOW

In the unrest of a grey day

I see a yellow umbrella

and your red lips,

and the hands that wait for me

to embrace my loneliness.

I smile as I run toward you

through the rain of lead,

and sometimes even a grey day

has a rainbow

before

the rain has passed.

We walk through puddles

of our life story,

yours and mine,

and our hearts touch

in an endless conversation

and in the rhythm of loud footsteps

echoing through the empty street.

The horizon opens at the end of the rainbow,

and we are so close to it

that we run beneath it

like joyful children.

The grey lifts above the city,

and the flash of the rainbow

fills our eyes

to the brim.

Jasna Gugić was born in Vinkovci, Croatia. She is the Vice-President of the Sovereign Artists and Writers of the World SAPS, P.L.O.T.S USA the Creative Magazine Ambassador for Croatia, Ambassador in Elite Arab Creative Union of The Royal House - Lebanon, Ambassador of Peace and Peaceful Coexistence - Morooco, Global Ambassador of Literacy and Culture for the Asih Sasami Indonesia Global Writers and a member of Angeena International, a non-profit organization for peace, humanity, literature, poetry and culture. She isalso co-editor of the anthology, Compassion-Save the World, one poem was written by 130 world poets. Jasna has published three collections of poems. The first two collections are bilingual: one is Croatian-English and the other is Croatian-Polish. The third collection consists of a single poem translated into sixty languages of the world. Jasna Gugić is one of the winners of the World Award for Cultural Excellence César Vallejo, for the year 2020 in the category of culture, awarded by Union Hispanomundial de Escritores (UHE). She is one of the winners of the World Award for Excellence “Golden Eagle” for the year 2023 in the category of literature, awarded by Union Hispanomundial de Escritores (UHE), in a global alliance with Mil Mentes por Mexico International (MMPMI) and Academia Mundial de Literatura, Historia, Arte y Cultura (AMLHAC) and Global Peace Alliance Award 2023 awarded by Union Hispanomundial de Escritores (UHE), MIL MENTES por Mexico Internacional, and Academia Mundial de Literatura, Historia, Arte y Cultura (AMLHAC). She is one of the winners of the World Award for Excellence “Golden Eagle” for the year 2024 in the category of literature, awarded by Union Hispanomundial de Escritores (UHE). She is of the winner of the World Prize “Literary Diamond“ and the Title “ Doctor Honoris Causa” awarded by Academia Mundial de Literatura Moderna Costarricense. She is of the winner of the “Diploma Awarde“ and the Title “Doctor Honoris Causa”, awarded by Union of Writers of the Republic of Moldova. world. She is one of the winners of the International Award 50 Memorable Women of the World and was declared a global leader for humanity awarded by Federación Global Liderazgo Y Alta Inteligencia and Mil Mentes Por México Internacional. She was nominated for The Best of the Net Awards (2025). Jasna is a multiple winner of many international awards for poetry and literature and her work has been translated into several world languages. She lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia. Her poems have been published in magazines in the USA, UK, Spain, Greece, Italy, Russia, Croatia, India, Syria, Denmark, Brasil, Mexico, Bangladesh, Serbia, Albania, Nigeria, Belgium, China, Chile, Nepal, Pakistan, Korea, Germany, Turkey, Kosovo, Romania, Iraq, New Zealand etc. Her poems have been published in so many world-famous print and electronic magazines, journals, websites, blogs and anthologies.