We buy tickets at prices set by the market.
We calculate feelings, boredom and joy;
love minus its absence,
and we see how mathematics leads to incorrect results.
Confused in stations of arrivals and departures, we lose our way.
Waiting for the train that leads to joy,
but it takes us to the doors of sadness.
Then, confused, we turn back and see that we’ve lost so much:
a work deadline, a coffee with a loved one we’ve been waiting for,
or the last part of a novel we left unfinished.
We end the day and throw the tickets in the trash,
but tomorrow we need a new ticket again:
a journey to see magnificent paintings at the Louvre,
a walk through the wonders of Rome
or an evening hug by the sea of good memories.
When the week ends, we rest for two days.
And on Sunday evening, we do the math, like a child doing homework:
the money is spent, but the month still has some days left.
We need to buy the monthly ticket for more love;
or for longer pain.
At the end of the month, the calculator of feelings falls to the ground,
and suddenly we spring up.
The coming month is better – spring arrives and the days are long,
or winter’s sorrow falls and the nights are sad.
We buy tickets at prices set by the market,
and confused, we wander through stations of waiting,
hoping for the new day to close the wrong doors.
We go to the theatre and buy the ticket for entertainment,
but Tartuffe tells us that the miserly spirit of the world lives in every era.
Then we tickle ourselves and do not open our eyes to see
the truth, because hypocrisy is in fashion.
Another day Hamlet takes the stage,
spoiled and with a sharp gaze, he bursts with rage.
He sees many ghosts scratching the clothes of freedom,
and a sheet with crumpled notes,
saying it always depends on us what statistics we make,
where we plant the flag of sadness and where that of joy
Translated by Vlora Konushevci
Author
Ndue Ukaj
Ndue Ukaj is an Albanian writer from Kosovo. He has published six poetry collections, two short story collections, a novel and three books of literary essays and criticism.
He is the recipient of several awards, including the Best Writer Award at the book fair ‘Libri të bân mire’ (Shkodra, 2025), the national award for best poetry book in Kosovo (2010) and a prize at the International Poetry Festival ‘Ditët e Naimit’ (2011). He received a Creativity Prize at the Naji Naaman Literary Prizes (2016).
His writings have been published in international anthologies and journals, translated into many languages, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Mad Swirl (2025).
Ukaj’s work explores the disturbance of the Balkans, themes of war and peace, and the memories of a generation shaped by loss and enduring hope. His literature bears the elegance of European expression and the European aspirations of the Albanian people, a quality praised by discerning literary voices.
He is a founding member of the Albanian Writers Forum, ‘Forumi 26’.
