The Alchemy of Words is the first English-language poetry book of Ella Czajkowska who previously published a book of poems in Polish. These 70 poems deal with themes of nature, divinity, human emotions, existential contemplation and the complexities of life. The poems explore the beauty and terror of natural world, the fleeting nature of joy, the struggles of existence, and the interplay of love and hate. Through vivid imagery and entrancing verse, the poems evoke a sense of wonder and introspection. They invite readers to an adventure of exploring human experience, reflecting upon the intricacies of life and the power of language and art.
ISBN 978-1-945938-80-1, paperback, 98 pages, $22.00
ABOUT THIS BOOK
"With Alchemy of Words by Elzbieta Czajkowska, a diamond of a poet is born. We dive into a deep, bold exploration of man's place in the cosmos. Standing solo at the gate of the garden of dreams with questions sharp as a knife... "Why am I? What is my choice?" Every page cuts through the upper lip of time and echoes in the reader's head, unveiling the deepest secrets of the soul one poem at a time. Elzbieta's poems electrify, like touching a spark to gunpowder, seeing a starless sky explode in a blaze of colors. Exciting. Original. Thought provoking. Inspiring."
~ Marek Probosz, actor, director, and writer,
Adjunct Professor at UCLA
~ Piotr D. Siemion, Ph.D., Author and Essayist
I am the lens through which at the world I gaze,
And just so position myself within it.
Perspective—sand in an hourglass, a maze—
Keeps shifting: a kaleidoscope set ablaze.
Love the eyes that see; love the hands that spin it.
~ Ella Czajkowska
ABOUT THE POET
Ella Czajkowska (b. Elżbieta Czajkowska) is a professional Translator, Transcriptionist, Polish and English-Speaking certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Master Practitioner, Certified Personal & Business Life Coach, Graphic Designer, English Second Language Teacher, Poet, and PR Manager. Her love of creative writing was born in high school, where she started writing poetry and short stories. In 2015, Ella started to write poetry in both Polish and English, and from 2017 she writes only in English. Her book of Polish language poetry, entitled “Tam, gdzie umierają marzenia”, was published in Rzeszów by Sowello in 2019. Her English-language poems appeared in the California Quarterly and the Crystal Fire anthology (Moonrise Press, 2022). She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2022 by the California State Poetry Society for her poem "The Calling”.
Ella worked for many years as Public Relations (PR) Manager for the EWELINEB brand. She has produced music and PR materials for fashion shows at the Fashion Week in such places like NYC, London, and Amsterdam, among others. Ella’s other great passion and inspiration in life is music. Surrounded by it her whole life, with both her father and mother having graduated from prestigious music schools, there was always a great respect for art and culture in her family home. All throughout her childhood she would be taken to theaters and opera houses, where her love for opera, ballet, and classical music ever grew. A graduate of two music schools, Ella learned to play piano, clarinet, and percussion—piano remains her favorite instrument to this day. A true Renaissance person with a wide range of interests, talents, and knowledge, she was born in Warsaw, Poland and lives in Los Angeles, California.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. He, Who Watches ~ 2
2. The Balance ~ 3
3. Beauty ~ 4
4. Butterflies ~ 5
5. The Sublime Senses ~ 6
6. Of Happiness and Perfection ~ 7
7. Nameless ~ 8
8. Sweet Lullaby ~ 9
9. Lady of the Gardens ~ 10
10. And Still ~ 12
11. In Time ~ 13
12. Lovely ~ 14
13. The Calling ~ 15
14. Of Easy Paths ~ 16
15. Close Enough ~ 18
16. As the Door Opens… ~ 19
17. The Rose Path ~ 20
18. What I Know ~ 22
19. Covetous ~ 24
20. The Fee ~ 25
21. Fruits of Infinity ~ 26
22. Unforgiven ~ 27
23. Given ~ 28
24. Who You Were Before They Broke Your Heart ~ 29
25. Gentle Fellow ~ 30
26. The Greatest Game ~ 31
27. Would That It Could ~ 32
28. Nature’s Call ~ 33
29. Vermillion ~ 34
30. Snake in the Grass ~ 35
31. Eternal Change ~ 36
32. Panic ~ 37
33. Contemplation ~ 38
34. Tomorrow, Tomorrow ~ 39
35. Blood Price ~ 40
36. Deeper Way ~ 42
37. Endless Feast ~ 43
38. Do Not Be Taken By The Far-Off Shores ~ 44
39. The Wishing Well ~ 45
40. Outlier of Old ~ 46
41. Bird of Hermes ~ 47
42. Surfeit ~ 48
43. Eat Your Heart Out ~ 49
44. A Moment in Time ~ 50
45. Labyrinthine ~ 52
46. Disordered ~ 56
47. The Narcissist ~ 57
48. For the Divinity ~ 58
49. To Whom Does Nature Speak? ~ 60
50. Under Savage Eye ~ 62
51. Our Due ~ 64
52. Of Sky, and Ocean, and Earth ~ 65
53. Fly, Fly, Flee ~ 66
54. Remember ~ 68
55. Little Voice ~ 69
56. Of Silent Songs (Three Sonnets) ~ 70
57. Prison-flesh ~ 73
58. Desert Contemplations ~ 74
59. What Heart May Be Dreaming ~ 75
60. I Burn ~ 76
61. Circles ~ 77
62. To Be ~ 78
63. All You ~ 80
64. Sisyphean (For E.V.E) ~ 81
65. Alchemy of Words ~ 82
66. Secrets of the Wind ~ 83
67. Golden Relics ~ 84
68. Ballade in D Minor ~ 85
69. Miracles of an Age ~ 86
70. Brick by Brick ~ 87
About Ella Czajkowska ~ 89
SAMPLE POEMS
The Sublime Senses
Until the heart stops
it desires;
until the mind stills
it aspires;
until the senses
take their leave
they deceive
such dreams they weave…
Eternal Change
Thousands of roads divergent, paths split and never taken,
Unveiling as they unravel, strand by strand, that precept
Of bygone days of youth, forgotten and forsaken.
In the face of change eternal ferocious waves have swept
Perceptions in stone written, and suddenly thus shaken
The foundations of skies burst – the heavens wept, and wept.
Torrents of tears weep they did, to cleanse and reawaken
That fair slumbering spirit, that an age and half has slept
Away in gentle dreaming, and deceit has mistaken
For benevolence charming; words of those in craft adept
For nobility and truth. That honor be retaken
In prideful arrogance, that those vices nigh be kept,
In regard highest viewed – with such lie overtaken
Deaf they be to destiny; ah! would that they awaken.
(But they slept, and slept, and slept…)
Secrets of the Wind
On the precipice a sentinel’s
Searching eyes peer beyond the shroud
Of blurring mists of time inveiled
In truths that wove a tale so fine
Wind whispers it as secrets blest:
Where knowing dark awaits aloof,
There light shines brightest, blazing white;
Where great abyss lingers hungry,
There undaunted gaze back boldly;
Where idle words still hollow ring,
There silence speaks, all music is;
Where nothing stirs amongst gilt walls,
Where nothing sits amongst chipped plates,
There art breathes life, love nourishes.
And where longing for destruction
At foundations tears with fury,
There passion’s fires forge despair
Into beauty of creation.
Miracles of an Age
You, who wears your sorrow like a veil of black,
Come! Pour all your tears into an open heart
And transform your grief into boundless wonder.
In the dark of night, a glimmer of light shines,
On water’s surface shimmers, on waves, on lines
That shan’t be exceeded: safe in their confines
You stand, witness to miracles of an age
That would crush as soon as build, would free to cage,
To grow would smother; to save would hide the stage.
But there you sit, and seethe, and ever ponder,
And will your cup of wrath, full of rage, apart;
Let time pass, see all erased, then cycle back…
PRIOR PUBLICATION CREDITS
This book of 70 poems includes ten that were earlier published in Crystal Fire: Poems of Joy & Wisdom (Moonrise Press, 2022). These poems are: “Of sky, and Ocean, and Earth,” “What Heart May Be Dreaming,” “The Sublime Senses,” “Given,” “I Burn,” “Fruits of Infinity,” “Close Enough,” “Circles,” “All You,” and “The Calling.”
In addition, prior publication of the following poems is hereby gratefully acknowledged:
o “The Calling,” California Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Autumn 2022)
o “Would That It Could, Eternal Change,” California Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring 2023)
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