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ТО му JfEAL'E'RS by ANNA DUSHCHAK I shall forgive you everything: all of your mistakes Which to me were nearly fatal, All the diagnoses which you made With a cold and easy hand And the teardrops with which white snow fell To cover my mother's sacred head And my wedding dress and veil Grass paths that I never walked. I'll forgive you my youth and adolescence My children who were never bom All my dreams that were never realized And the spring that never arrived in May. I shall forgive you eveiything: that a morning's song fell silent My entire crippled life. If only I could be sure of one thing, only one thing, who wishes Anya well. Anya spends days, weeks and years lying on her bed, propped up with pillows. She can move her hands from side to side and so she can write, but her hands can't even reach her own face. The phone that stands on a big book not far from her head has a long thin piece of board tied to its receiver and with this, Anya can pull the receiver close to her and dial herself. This phone is her contact with the outside world. Through it she receives even more visitors than the many who come through her door. Some call to give her moral support and others call to tap into her warmth and strength. There is a long shelf that runs along the right side of her body. There she keeps her books, magazines (among them, copies of Our Life), paper to write on and other essential things. She often depends on a long handled fork which she uses not only to feed herself, but also to pull at things she can't reach. This fork also comes in handy for other things. Occasionally, she will attach a small mirror to it and then adjust the angle and use it as a rear view mirror to see things behind her back. She finds ingenious ways to maintain an independence but each movement is a slow process because of her serious handicaps. She also suffers pain and discomfort. But you never hear her complain. "God is merciful". "Life is beautiful". It is in this setting that Anya writes. Her poems have been printed in newspapers and magazines. In 1990, the city of Chemivtsi hosted the first in a series of literary evenings in her honor where poets, writers, composers and actors dedicated their works to Anna Dushchak. In 1992, her first book of poetry was published in Chemivtsi. Her second book came out in 1994. Five hundred copies of her third book were printed in 1998; they sold out immediately. With the help of people in the Untied States, a second edition of this third book is coming out soon, this time in greater quantity. So Anna Dushchak will be able to touch many more people. Her poems have also been put to music and are performed at various festivals. In 1992, one of these was featured at an international competition which took place in Chemivtsi, and this was not the first or last time that she was awarded a prize for her work. Songs with her words are also used in various films. How often she would love to go outside to look at the beautiful countryside of her beloved Bukovyna, but such is not her fate. So she turns to people and it is they who bring to her the beauty of life. Anya is visited by students, teachers, other poets, writers, composers, producers and many people who simply enjoy poetry. Every October, at the time of her birthday, entire busloads of people come to visit. Everyone wants to meet this person, who not only touches them through the spirit of her Ksenia Hapij and Anna Dushchak, 1998.
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