From a distance, the high-rise looks like any Soviet-style block of apartments. Similar ones dot the tranquil views of the Lithuanian countryside, and today they are something of an eyesore among the romantic vista of Vilnius' medieval architecture.
As one draws nearer, the block of flats changes into a nightmarish reality of sub-existence for thousands of Lithuanians. Built for 50-year durability, they seem ready to be pulled down as the plumbing has rusted, with even the recent external paint turning black and ugly. The balconies testify that each home expanded, as the balconies house washing lines, pantries and satellite dishes.
A second story apartment at Subaciaus Street is where Zita Kirsnauskaite lives. An unassuming figure, she belongs to a select group of Lithuania's celebrated contemporary poets. A two-room
apartment gives the appearance of a place where poetry lives, the walls dotted with artistic photography and memorable pictures of meetings, as she explains, with "important [United States] presidents, [Bill] Clinton and [George W.] Bush."
Zita is a widow and lives with her son, David, who shares the apartment with her. She has been a Seventh-day Adventist for 31 years. A nurse by profession, she had to restrict herself during the years of the Soviet system to write solely for herself. Today, she loves what she is doing,
even though it is not poetry, but her day job that provides for her everyday needs.
"I lived in the capital of Latvia for many years, but I was not able to show what I wrote to anyone. It was not possible to write and share it publicly. The police frequently came and checked on people. The police often looked for people like me. They were suspicious of anyone
expressing themselves freely," Zita explains. "But I continued to write just for myself. It kept me going.
"Now that Lithuania is free, I concluded--after returning back in 1996--that I should write again. And now that's what I do," she joyfully explains.
A poet through and through, Zita readily explains that she does not write for herself. "I write for everyone. But yes, it's all about me. In my poems I try to rejoice, to comfort, to be calm, to encourage myself," she explains. "Often someone comes to me and says, 'You wrote for me. You wrote about me.' So, I write for everyone.
"My poems are about relationships between God and people. I write about Him and where to find Him--in nature, in the word of God, which is the source of true happiness.
"But I also write to comfort people. Sadness of this world is temporal, but hope is eternal and we need to cling to it. My poetry aims to turn the reader's attention toward God and not to end their lives senselessly, but to cling to hope," she continues.
"There is a better life that we all are waiting for--that's what I am saying."
Being an Adventist Christian, Zita's poetry receives a natural source of themes that are close to an Adventist heart and mission. In portraying human conditions, she often evokes the apocalyptic themes of biblical theology she grew up with. She writes about life, but also about hope, a theme that permeates Adventist ethos and a way of life.
"Do not enter into despair / When the frozen earth of pain disturbs the silence / Do not enter into despair / When the time comes to drink from the glass of anxiety … / Do not enter into despair / Even if a bitter tear / Eats away deep folds on your cheeks / Tempting towards despair."
And she concludes, "Do not enter into despair / Even if the time comes / When the sun does not rise! / Do not go! I pray! Do not abandon hope!"
Zita is often on the road now, sharing her art. Her four poetry books won critics acclaims, with Alfredas Guscius, Lithuania's renowned columnist and literary critic, calling Zita the "rising star of
religious poetry." Such comments and endorsements help Zita read her poetry to packed houses during her frequent literary evenings. "What we do is not only read poetry, but I invite our best actors to read the Bible aloud. It brings the word of God closer to the people."
For poetry evenings, Zita often joins with another poet, Romualda Adomaityte-Chabarina. She also is a Seventh-day Adventist and lives in Kaunas, the former capital of Lithuania. They both share a passion to present spiritual writings as their testimony to the faith they have
and the gospel that needs to be told, Zita says.
The poetry readings, which often include musical performances by the country's known artists, are regarded by both women poets as "paths leading to the Holy Scripture. They give hope and faith to people and turn their eyes to the Lord." Irena Jeriominaite, an opera star from Vilnius, has included Zita's songs in her repertoire.
Several of Zita's poems have become lyrics to music set by Lithuania's well-known contemporary composer and professor, Lionginas Abarius. The latest book of poetry, Spindinti giesme (Glittering Song) includes these songs and Zita seems overwhelmed by the attention the artistic community of Vilnius is giving her. She explains that she doesn't ask for it.
"Look at this collection of poems," she summons. "One of my poet-colleagues has written a poem about my poetry," she blushes as she showcases dozens of publications, newspaper and magazine articles about her and her poetry.
"I have been honored that one of the poems, 'Resurrection morning,' has been set as a song," she adds.
Now, Zita is waiting to publish her fifth book of poems, On the Wing of an Angel. "It's ready now and I am waiting for a sponsor that will realize the project. The poems are about everlasting life, joy, and a feeling of calm for the disturbed and about the everlasting truth of the gospel."
In Kaunas, Romualda Adomaityte-Chabarina is also an accomplished writer. She has published five books--two childrens books: Dreamland (1996) and Who is the King (1999), and three volumes of poetry: Edelweiss of Happiness (1999), The Tear of Ancient of Days (2000) and
The Smile of a Flower (2002). Romualda was an editor at the church's publishing house where Dreamland was published. Because of its success, it was reprinted three times. She says that she donated the text of the book in order to support the church's publishing ministry.
For Romualda, poetry is like a letter. In an interview with Adventist News Network, she said that poetry is like "a letter to life, love and God. Poetry is a letter to people who are too far for me to reach them and to tell them about God's love, goodness, forgiveness and that Jesus receives everyone who comes to Him."
"I try [to write so] that my poetry would direct the eyes of a reader to the word of God. I always try to use God's word as a main motive for my poetry. The more I realize the human frailty and how short this earthly life is, the more I write about the meaning and happiness of life, joy and beauty of living with Jesus," she says.
Like Zita, Romualda is a nurse by profession. She reflects on meeting patients at a psychiatric clinic "where people disillusioned with life are under medical treatment." This "even more encourages me to put Christian hope and encouragement into poetry."
She adds that poetry brings her close to the people as she reads her poems to her listeners. "I [also] sing songs to my patients," she adds.
Romualda's faith--she became an Adventist Christian at the age of 16--prompts her to look at poetry as a spiritual avenue into human hearts. She is eager to mention receiving her very first letter from a reader that "touched me and helped me to understand that my poetry is needed [for] our nation--Lithuanians who for many years were kept under spiritual starvation during Soviet times and longed for spiritual refreshing," she says.
"If I were a great physician, I would assign "Edelweiss of Happiness" as a special medication for treating those who are of a broken spirit ..." Romualda quotes from that letter.
In Kaunas and in other cities where the literary events take place, Romualda is joined by Nomeda Vilkanauskaite, a soloist at the Kaunas Musical Theater, and a fellow believer from her home church. Those who experienced the poetry readings conclude that they connect listeners
with the "spiritual message of the spiritual poetry."
In "The Upper Room," Romualda writes: "The upper room lifts us up into God's space / From the exhausted paths of the battle ..."
"I believe that the gospel dressed in the garment of poetry will find many more paths to human hearts," she adds. She is hoping that someone will sponsor a new edition of her poems.
"We are preaching the gospel through poetry," Zita, in Vilnius, states. She is eager to add that "It is not easy to be a woman and a minister of the gospel here. Because I have a spiritual power as a poet, I desire to do something for the Lord."
Her attitude as well as an atmosphere of worship seems to add to Zita's preoccupation with God and the wonder of life.
As the worshiping congregation is singing a hymn, one can observe Zita, hunched over a notebook, writing. She happens to be a worship leader that day but that does not stop her from responding to a thought coming through.
"Thoughts don't choose a convenient time to appear, " she says, because "when a great thought comes, I write it in poetry. Then it all comes together--the inspiration and the poetry."
(9268 Zeichen)
