this one calls for me.
In ten days I go back to my roots -
the pen sliding on paper.
My wrist stops hurting after day two.
Awduron wrth eu gwaith, this is what we do.
The brain remains a scramble. The dreams
come scattered (if at all). We get feral with time
and brave. There is no stopping
us. The ten, our eyes on pages,
our faces enquiring, words unshaken.
We do ask questions. Write down the answers and
discard some. Timor mortis no longer
conturbat me. I have seen death. It can come
quickly. The time is an essence. Focus now:
Diet Coke after coffee. Welsh cakes after lunch.
People feel like family as soon as night three,
sustain a place once vacant.
Warmth in the pub. Buzz in the bookshop.
The hand holding hand the hand
wiping the tears of laughter and being seen.
Then last evening, when we’re dancing —
How brave: to be a wildflower and know it,
not mind it.
The sun in the garden, the moon above the castle,
a Rising of hope
Gosia Buzzanca is one of the Hay Festival 2025 Writers at Work, a creative development programme for emerging Welsh talent at Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye with the support of Literature Wales and Folding Rock, funded by Arts Council of Wales.
Born in Poznań, Poland, she began publishing short stories in 2002, before moving to the UK in 2008 and earning a Creative Writing MA with distinction. In 2022, she was the recipient of the W&A Working-Class Writers’ Prize. Her debut, a memoir There She Goes, My Beautiful World, set in between Poland and Wales, will be published by Calon in October 2025. She now lives in Barry, South Wales and is working on her first novel.