I’ve never thought that I would write a volume of poetry.
I hadn’t thought I was a poet until I met one friend, who said to me:
– You’re a poet, aren’t you?
– How did you know?
– By the shoes.
Indeed, at the beginning of January this year an afflation came. Something ordered me to sit down, take a pen, open a notebook and start writing. So I wrote, and when I was finishing, it was hard for me to believe in what I saw on the paper. Neither did I know where the words were coming from nor where they were going – I was just standing on the road, trying to tame them by writing about what was happening at the moment, which meant writing about what was happening before and what may happen in the future.And then, Ida came just as unexpectedly as the poems had come before. We met in a cafe in mid-January. This is how we talked:
– So you write?
– Yes. And you paint?
– Yes.
– Okay.
So began our cooperation. We saw eye to eye with each other from the very first moment. We started exchanging poems and paintings (sometimes I would send something that I had painted, sometimes Ida would send something she had written), and from this chaos something more andmore tangible started forming…
I had only a few poems, the other butterflies were still to be caught. Sometimes I sent a text, for which Ida created an illustration; sometimes she sent a painting, which I would adorn with words. This was the most fascinating thing: a painting, an opened notebook and the question where it would lead me. Now I have reached my dream place from which to look back over my shoulder at the landscape, and not as it was, but as I had remembered it. The poems that you will find here are a record of my search of the truth and beauty. They are personal, yet at the same time reaching
beyond what is personal. The same concerns the paintings, which like fairy tales depict the world by depicting another. This volume of poetry is a diary of a journey along a road that is unexpected, winding and beautiful.
This is still not the end of the road. The words and paintings which you will find here are just a beginning.
The book is available on Amazon:
Reviews:
1) „An enchanting poetical journey, where pictures of everyday life are intertwined with day-dreaming metaphorical world of mythology and youthful imagination” – Agnieszka B. Gorzkowska ( Italy ) wloskicafe.blogspot.com
2) „Beautiful, very pictorial stories written by Mikołaj with the use of poetic prose, where feelings are not expressed outright, but concealed somewhere behind the action, names of places and characters. Ida has a great talent, I’m under impression of her illustrations” – Asia Tarasińska ( Poland)
3) „Reading poems of Mikołaj evokes in us wonderful emotions. We get immersed into the lecture, which slowly draws us into the world of this young, but very mature author. Personally, it was this maturity which amazed me. I sit comfortably in a chair and read. Magical illustrations of Ida a friend of Mikołaj, beautifully merge with the poems, adorn them, thus creating a unique volume of poetry. „- Alexandra Seghi (Italy), author of the books: „Tastes of Tuscany”, „Sweet roasted chestnuts – tuscan stories with relish”, „Green Tuscany” and „Domestic italian cuisine. Cooking is my passion „aleksandraseghi.com
4) „I found the poems of Mikołaj really agreeable. They are linked to actual events as well as elements of Greek mythology. The fact that there is an illustration for each poem makes a reader think about what connects stories and illustrations” – Nils Unell, Switzerland
5) „I’ve just read the beginning, but it’s freaking awesome amazing!!”- Guus Belder, Holland
6) „I really like the idea of combining illustrations with poems. I love almost every illustration and I think that Mikołaj’s poems are very succesful as well, especially I like „Steps in silence”. Bravo for Mikołaj and Ida” – Merve Ozkaya, Turkey
7) 'Past, Present and Future come together and show emotions we all experience. The poems are based on knowledge of history, literature, music and art generally. I found what I was looking for, good fresh poetry.’
Camila Jensen, Norway
8) 'There’s this quiet passion. There’s today that weaves together with yesterday and tomorrow. There’s a part of any of us, the readers. And the soothing mood of the poems – all that gives us pleasure in reading them.’
Andrew Wilson, UK
