Post bellum

Living with and against war, a spared, secure life alongside war, and above all, life after war—the normalcy of missed opportunities and losses, grief, and memory—form the main theme of the new poetry collection by the Croatian poetess. The texts were created over a period of seven years and vividly reflect the return to everyday life, the impossibility of coming to terms with death and devastation, the struggle with transience and futility, and the search for identity as a poet in a foreign-native language—Dragica Rajcic writes in the language of her host country. At the same time, the author also creates a counter-world of colors, lightness, poetry, and humor: she encapsulates the subconscious in concrete images, makes us stumble over unusual, flawed turns of phrase, and captivates with the precision of her unrefined language.