REMEMBRANCE DAY: May We Live Gracefully

REMEMBRANCE DAY

***

May we live gracefully

May we live with hope

That the world will calm down

That the remorse will show

For the beauty undone

For the lives lost

May we live gracefully

They have already borne the cost

When the soldiers did decide

That the fight was necessary

They didn’t predict their loses

They didn’t predict their merit

The trauma of the past needs its cooling time

Time to close the wounds

Time to heal

With the whispers of the soul

And the kisses sent to those who died

Thank you for making us survive

Thank you for the future reassured

For the coziness of my own room

You allowed me to be calm

You allowed me to be kind

Turn the war into a fight

For the rights of peace

For the rights to the calm

So that the nerves are soothed

And the will finds its new direction

This wouldn’t have happened without your sacrifice

Without your protection

May we now live gracefully

May we now live with calm

Let the soldiers sleep

Let them now have their time

Let us rock them

So that they feel embraced

They were dying on their own

Their bodies were not held

Let us rock their souls to sleep at least

So they can finally rest in peace.

Poem by Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini

MyCake, Your Cake, Her Cake (2)

Do you remember my friend Dorota and her lovely cakes?

Amazing and delicious.

What a talent she has, hasn’t she?

For more cakes, visit Dorota’s Facebook site.

The Things We Love Doing

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.”
― Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was a wise woman. She worked with things she loved and they became art. A friend of mine does the same. The photographs above are snapshots of her artwork and features of her house.

I also love creating and I find it very difficult to live without art and beauty. Is it the same for you? How do you nourish your creative soul?

The artwork above was made by Dorota Szmechtig-Szturo. You can see her other amazing talents here.

MyCake, Her Cake, and Your Cake

A while ago I wrote a post in which I was telling you about my friend, Dorota, who is a wonderful fairy and turns everything around her into beauty. A week ago I had a chance to photograph her at work. She’s been always a very creative soul, capable of making magic. The cakes presented here are her art and below you can see her preparing another one for a very hungry customer.

I read somewhere a while ago that “True art is control over passion.” I think you can see it all in her work. Dorota has always been a great inspiration to me and I will be forever grateful to her for showing me that I do not need a permission slip to create. But imagination and perseverance.

If you are interested in Dorota’s cakes, contact her through Facebook at MyCake. Dorota is based in Poland in the region of Wielkopolska. Her handmade cakes have travelled long distances before so just get in touch with her if the idea of combining art and food appeals to you as much as to her.

Photo-essays from Milan (1): Street & Street Art

Last month we went for a short trip to Milan to visit our son’s great grandmother. Milan is a beautiful place known all too well for il Duomo, its cathedral, and for its fashion. But there is much more to Milan as is to every city so I’ll be doing a series of photo-essays on this blog from our Milan trip. Just for a pure enjoyment of travel and photography. :)