In November, the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation issued an open call for participation in a creative writing course in English for young people aged 15 to 29, led by the American writer Stacey Mattingly. Following a selection process, our student Ivelina Petrova from class 12 “A” was chosen and had the opportunity to take part in the two-day seminar. During the event, the finalists engaged in discussions and writing, immersed in a shared creative process. A literary reading of the works created during the seminar was held at the “Mahala” bookstore. We are happy to share with you the poem Ivelina wrote during the course, titled with the Turkish word pembe, one of whose meanings is “pink”:
Pembe
dedicated to the emotional storms in our minds
I never liked the colour pink
but then you went and brought me
the pink ukulele with the tiger print
and suddenly, it became my favourite thing.
The same way love made us stick,
egocentrism made us leave,
opinions made us sick…
I never liked the colour pink.
All the bruises can be stiched,
nevermind, that I internally bleed.
Your cheeks will always be perfectly pink
and my pen will never run out of ink.
You’d rather forget me, so be it.
The ukulele will never etiolate its pink.
I just hope you sit and listen,
stare at the pale red scenes.
Through sunsets, candy lands and fairy lights,
search for me,
the supposed love of your life.
Find me and be ready to fight.
For I hate the image I have in my mind,
of you peacefully walking away,
leaving only the ukulele behind.
Never turning back to see,
I am wearing the colour pink.
