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 In
his 1980 Nobel lecture, poet-member par excellence of the Polish
Diaspora, Czeslaw Milosz, noted, "It is possible that there is
no other memory than the memory of wounds." If this is so, and
judging by what prompts me to write and what I find when I do,
it is a truly profound awareness, then memory is the road toward
healing. Here might lie the answer to the question posed by Dr.
Rati Saxena in a recent Kriyta editorial about how to stop
killing each other and the planet: to be proactive, and respond
to what causes a crisis, both personal and planetary, before it
becomes such a wound that it is beyond repair.
This second volume of Kritya - May 2009 following the April 2009
issue also dedicated to Polonia - with the voices of the "other"
Europe, or its descendants, raised after a long time away from
stare kraju - the old country - or in many instances the voices
of those who have never journeyed to Poland, but still have much
to say about what it means to be Polish, are given the task,
again in Milosz' words, "...'to see'...not only to have before one's
eyes, but also to preserve in memory."
The Polish Diaspora is akin to the traditional definition of
what a Diaspora is: epic/plague-like/genocidal/terrible wars and
famines/ almost biblical in scope. But when a land - and here I
am not only thinking of Poland - is not inhabitable by many who
had once lived there or would live there again if they only
could, then these people are also part of a Diaspora, whatever
the initial event/events that triggered their exile.
The fourth definition in my American Heritage dictionary comes
closest to this more inclusive meaning of Diaspora and has an
interesting Greek, then Indo-European root, which includes the
words sperm and spore as well as sprout, spread, sprawl, and
"that which is scattered." So, it is the fourth definition I
will adhere to I think when contemplating the poetry and poetic
world view of the myriad voices appearing in Kritya.
The wound when healed, even if it such a grievous wound it
cannot be healed entirely - and there are many such - can yield
a fecund scattering of many new creations, including the poetry
I have had the honor to help bring to Kritya with the assistance
of Drs. John Guzlowski and Rati Saxena.
Poles who are about to dine say to each other, "Smacznego" which
is a wish for a good appetite, similar to the French, "Bon
appetit!"
Smacznego!
Christina Pacosz
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