WE SEARCH FOR EACH OTHER

I long for solitude.

I wander away with myself,

anchored

on the ridge of memories.

My thoughts drift

back into the past.

I remember this very ridge.

Perhaps for a reason,

solitude has brought me here.

Here,

we gave ourselves to each other,

washing away

the sins of our youth

in the sea.

You ask about me:

Where am I? What am I doing?

I ask myself the same:

Where are we?

We have been searching for each other for years,

while life passes us by.

And if we were to meet,

would we recognize each other?

And which one of us

would be the real one,

the original one?

Author: Katica Protić, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Katica Protić is a Croatian poet and prose writer from Dubrovnik. She is a mother of three and a retired former director of a private company. She has been writing poetry and prose since her early youth. Her literary work is deeply rooted in emotion, human experience, love, pain, and the beauty of life. She has published two independent poetry collections, Maybe We Met in Our Dreams and Love, Pain, Sea and Salt. Her poetry has been featured in more than 100 joint anthologies, with her work represented by anywhere from one to thirty poems in individual collections. She has received approximately 40 certificates of appreciation, commendations, diplomas, and awards, including bronze and gold medals.

Among her notable achievements are three consecutive first-place awards in literary competitions in Australia. Her poems have been published internationally, reaching readers and literary publications from Australia to India and the United States. Her prose has also received recognition, with awards in Croatia, the United States, and Australia. Through her poetry and prose, Katica Protić continues to share her personal vision of life, love, human resilience, and the world around her, carrying the voice of a woman whose words are shaped by both experience and emotion.