Valentina Teclici

Napier, New Zealand

Valentina Teclici has published in Romanian and English 20 books including works of sociology, poetry and stories for children. Some of her work has been translated into French, Spanish and Te Reo.

Poems and excerpts from her creation for children are included in the bibliography and textbooks for primary and secondary education in Romania.

She has published numerous poems in print and online literary magazines and anthologies in Romania, Australia, Israel, Canada, USA and New Zealand.

She has been a member of the Romanian Union Writers since 1993 and the New Zealand Poetry Society since 2013. She lives in Napier, New Zealand.

Poem completed: 11th April 2020

FLYING THROUGH HOOPS ON FIRE

Very often, in my life, I was flying through hoops on fire.

Similar to those you see at the circus or other shows.

It’s like consciously taking a big, unnecessary risk,

just to prove to yourself and others that you can face the fear

and are better than your projected image.

You are a temporary winner in the life and death game.

Always it is about a fine line between loosing and winning.

Every loss, excepting your life, is teaching you a lesson

about you, what is really important for you

and gives you strength to cope, to recover,

to change, to give up or to keep trying and strive.

Every win, especially the big ones, after you risked your health,

your relationships, your assets, your own life and maybe others,

gives you grief or maybe a high level of adrenaline,

a taste of God power and the desire to repeat the experience

without asking yourself “what if…?”

Only an invisible fine line between grief and acceptance,

above and below, wisdom and naivety, desire and control.

So, I imagined large hoops on fire, like the arch of the rainbow,

or tiny like my wedding ring

and tamed my fear, ambitions, regrets and dreams to fly through.

Like loving, loyal dogs…they have flown.