Written after a film screening at the Film From South Festival in Oslo, a poem about 30+1 africans from West Afrika, going in an open boat to a new life in Spain ...

You asked me what I did in the weekend

I said my weekend was powerful this time, a blast

I never thought I would get this chance -

To look into the eyes of the African boat immigrant

The story in this film starts in Senegal, on the coast, no fish left in the sea,

A crowd is collected to be taken to a new life in Spain, in an open boat,

Seven days in the ocean, “just” seven days they say

And a beautiful young man from the village as captain

Seven days – seven nights

Seven dawns – seven dusks

Seven prayers – seven bows

Seven pains – no delights

Fish is caught, rice is boiled, food is served

A woman on the boat, her fare never paid

She is cooking, she is serving, she`s their maid

She sleeps light - 30 men onboard …

Storm begins, waters rise, people die, most can`t swim,

Overboard, prayers said, Allah thanked,

The Fulani king sees his cows in his mind.

Friends are gone, motor stops, Sun goes wild

Drifting out into the big sea, all the way to Brasil,

Food is gone, water drunk, chicken fed

Are we dying, are we living, are we dreaming?

Are we dead, half-dead, – or are we alive?

Seven days – seven nights

Seven deaths – seven sighs

Seven Suns, seven seas, seven cries

Seven, seven times, forty nine!

Red Cross – help – back to life

Rescue teams, doctors, water, refuge camps

Dry clothes, euro bills, sandwich, careful smiles,

Flight takes less, right, and back in hot Dakar

Thirty men, one female, hens and fish

Seven days, seven nights, seven hundred frights,

They believed they will reach and survive, yet:

Many dead, many lost, just a few are still alive …

Farewell to the dead, and to the living:

Good bye!

26.10.2012

A lament written in the district of Grønland, Oslo. Grønland is where I met black Afrika for the first time ... By Irena Novanska

Today I am saying farewell to you, Afrika

Poor, black, vast, beautiful Afrika

We will never meet again, never greet again…

I knew you only for a while, met you for a moment

I tried but couldn’t reach you, couldn’t fly overseas to you

You came to me by yourself, suddenly I found you here with me …

I went wandering around, looking into your faces

Listening to your voices, dancing to your songs

You waved your hand to me – my mind went into a haze

You called for me – I couldn’t find the way to you

Forgive me, Afrika, farewell to you, Afrika

I am so happy you showed your face to me

Your people attracted me, that´s when and how I fell in love with you

I will never forget you, will always carry you inside of me …

We are not enemies, we are not distant, we are close relatives

We lived together before, took our food together before, slept in one bed before

Our children wondered around the world, lost their ways, forgot the past

They forgot us, fell out of love with us, turned their backs on us, wiped us out …

Now we see war, hostility, brothers quarrelling

Sisters pulling each others´ hair, fighting hard, hating hard

All this because of black skin – white skin

All this because of black thoughts – white thoughts …

Translated from Russian

30.09.2012

We need peace and acceptance for all nationalities. The Jews. The Roma, they too deserve this and have to be seen as our fellow human beings. We pray to different Gods, but maybe God is one? We look different, speak differently, but maybe we are one?

Shabbat shalom, let the friday evening be peacefull

Shabbat shalom, let music sound tonight and our voices vibrate

Shabbat shalom, let the food be sweet and the wine be fluid

Shabbat shalom, let our eyes meet so we can size each other

Shabbat shalom, let our eyes be eager to make love and caress

I dont know you, but I can see us together already

Shabbat shalom, let palestinians get a home and stop fighting

Shabbat shalom, let us find peace and stop fighting

Shabbat shalom, let us forget pogroms and holocaust

Shabbat shalom, let all our dead stand up and pray

Shabbat shalom, let us forgive our murderers and supressors

Shabbat shalom, let us say a death prayer for Hitler

Shabbat shalom, let us sway our prayers at the Wall of Tears

Shabbat shalom, let us go to bed and find sleep

Shabbat shalom, let us feel at home in every country

Shabbat shalom, let us make the whole world our home

Shabbat shalom, let us stop wandering ...

Shabbat shalom, let all of us find peace and start living!

12.02.2012

Young women from PUSSY RIOT face a "religious hatred" and "hooligan" charge that can lead to 7 years of prison for their Anti-Putin protest "prayer" performance at The Christ The Savior Cathedral in Moscow. The words in italics are from their prayer

Nadya, Katya, Masha

No faces, bright colors, high voices

On the altar of the big church in Moscow

Build by muslim workers from Turkey

On the open-air swimming pool

Of Soviet Russia

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Liberate us from injustice!

Nadya, Katya, Masha

Jumping, kickboxing, kneeling, praying

On the altar of the big church in Moscow

Private church to the powerful and

Sometimes open for us “others”

Russian people and tourists

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Liberate us from injustice!

Nadya, Katya, Masha

Women with more guts than

The men around them, alas

Breastfeeding, hugging,

Feeding their babies and then

Defending us and our freedom

Fighting for our future

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Liberate us from injustice!

Nadya, Katya, Masha

Want to live in a free country

And they say it, they shout it

To Stalin, Putin & friends

In our sacred religious places

In our sacred national spaces

And inside our minds

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Liberate us from injustice!

Nadya, Katya, Masha

Sitting in court´s small glass cages

(We saw this cage before, Michail and Platon, right?)

A room for defectors and political animals

No air, no food, no medical attention

Emergency? No! Denied!

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Virgin Mary, drive Putin away

Liberate us from injustice!

Nadya, Katya, Masha

Are you our hope for a New Russia

Free from violent aging men

And their obidient women?

Free from the Past

Free for a better Future

Free for a modern Future

Free for a younger Future

A slave-free Russia!

   8.08.2012

Life on Earth, our planet, is becoming dangerous and we are to blame ... Let´s pray for better times! A poem by Irena Novanska

Today God I pray for better times.

Many people die, war, no water, no food

Some killed, some drown

Others die of desease

Children, women, men,

Old people, babies ...

How long will this rat race continue?

What is your overall plan for us?

Reflecting on humanity´s long way

I see imperfection, suffering

Degeneration

But also: growth,

Selfdevelopement,

Enlightment.

I understand ALL cannot come into heaven

But why dont you spare the children?

Why not give them a decent life

Here, on Earth?

Enough food, clean water,

Roof over their heads,

A mother´s breast to lean to.

The father is away warring, or working,

Bring him back.

Let the trees grow, the crops prosper,

Waters will run, transparent and clean,

And over this paradise on Earth

The Sun will shine and warm us,

Interrupted by some rainy days.

Paradise on Earth is possible, God.

It may differ from the garden of Eden.

Do you hear me, God?

Are you outside or inside me?

Dont say you will reflect on that,

Give us power to build the paradise now.

Where the trees will grow

Waters will run, transparent and clean

Crops will give abundance of food

Rivers, seas will provide the fish

Animals will graize.

Suns will shine on us,

Interrupted by some rainy days!

People will live, happy.

Babies will survive.

24.10.2011

What have we lost? What are we looking for? Shall we complain to others about our loss? Or shall we continue searching? A poem by Irena Novanska

Innocence is lost, harmony and peace are gone

Now we are searching for them, doing our spiritual work

We long for the stillness, we long to embrace others, we long to be whole

We want a quiet and peacefull mind, a warm and tender heart

What disappeared cant ever come back it seems,

Yet we can create a new quality to our world, make it a better place

How? Laugh like children, love like angels, live like gods

Work like humans, play like sunrays, touch like velvet

Let´s care for others as we care for our own

Everyone will become close, known and unknown, distant and near, even our enemies

We can care for others, just let everyone enter your heart

For never to leave it again, our hearts will then be enormous.

Innocence is lost, so we cover distances searching for it

You dont have to leave your home anymore, travel with the mind

Let the musical winds take you far, far away,

Over the mountains, the rivers, the valleys, the sea

There is a secret place there, where we meet to connect,

Demonstrate our spiritual sides, merge our souls, enlightened

You know this place from dreaming, a glimpse of it

You remember when you wake up in the morning

Dont complain to others that innocence is lost,

Start searching

7.02.2012

A meeting with a sick Roma musician who couldnt get medical help in Oslo, has made my heart very soft, a poem by Irena Novanska, april 2012

I never asked the street musician his name

He will forever remain nameless in my memory

Just a face with two dark eyes and a smile on his lips

Shining with a warm and wonderful glow

I wish you a safe journey home

My gentle friend, the wanderer of wanderers

Your heart couldnt take it anymore :

The heavy mechanical movement of

Playing the accordion all day long

You were sitting there behind the Royal palace in daytime

Sleeping in the bushes as night fell, even in winter,

Using the city as a toilet, no shower for you.

Homeless. What else could you do?

Yet the music came out as a little miracle

Beautiful sounds and complicated melodies

I heard a tango, a waltz and many songs,

Sometimes a joyfull gypsy melody would break out

Safe journey home to you, wanderer,

Romani, street musician, father, son

Fleeing the poverty of your home,

And now on your way away from our cold air

Will God take care of you?

Will the doctor take care of you?

Will the family take care of you?

Will the music take care of you?

Safe journey home, nameless wanderer ...

Is it only the bees that are dying? A poem by Irena Novanska

The bees cant stand stress anymore

They are dying by millions

They cant find direction to their hive,

They get lost, they starve, they die

People cant stand stress anymore

They are dying by millions

They cant find direction home,

They get lost, they starve, they die

Dolphins cant stand stress anymore

They are dying by millions

They cant find places to breed,

They get lost, they starve, they die

Birds cant stand stress anymore

They are dying by millions

They cant find their way in heavens

They get lost, they starve, they fall, they die

Plants cant stand stress anymore

They are dying by millions

They cant survive chemical poisons

They get dry, they starve, they die

Water cant stand stress anymore

It is dying by millions

It cant survive all the pollution

It gets dark, it fades, it dies

Life cant stand stress anymore

It is dying by millions

It cant survive the radiation, the chaos, the gloom

It gets bizarre, it fades out, it dissolves, it dies

Stars cant stand stress anymore

They are dying by millions

They cant survive burning suns anymore

They get mad, they collapse, they explode, they die ...

 28.01.2012

Oslo wants to ban the poor beggars from Romania and Moldova and throw them out of the country, just a step away from what Hitler did with the gypsies. I dare ask: What would you do, Jesus? Poem by Irena Novanska

Jesus and the Gypsies

"They do not need to go away. Let´s give them something to eat," - Jesus

On my way to the Quakers today I met two gypsy ladies

They looked horrible, black with cold and hungry for food

They took some bread lying outside of the hotell in Brugata

And the man was telling them : Put the bread back!

Jesus, please help me here! I cannot understand the logic

A city throwing away tons of leftovers, a lot of food untouched, expired,

And yet the tens of gypsies from Romania living in the streets of Oslo

Cant take two female bunches of bread

This country is doomed for not giving food to the gypsies

This was demonstrated last year the 22nd of July

Yet inspite of everyone debating and discussing

The gypsies are still sitting there frozen and hungry

Jesus, come to Oslo and feed the gypsies

I will provide two fishes and five breads,

Multiply them and give them to the poor

Freezing in the world´s richest country

I will assist you, cutting the loafs and giving away the pieces,

Touching the black hands and caressing the black faces

Smiling to the desperate and crying with the helpless

Wishing health to their children back home

Jesus, feed the gypsies in Norway

Jesus, feed the gypsies in Europe

Jesus, feed the gypsies in Egypt

Jesus, feed the hungry gypsies, please ...

Februar 2012