October the 17th, 2024 – Katarina Bučić is a writer and poet born and raised in Toronto, Canada by first generation Croatian immigrants. She has now returned to the motherland and is living in Zadar, Croatia. Katarina has a long history in creative arts and has a specific passion for poetry. She has taken part in many creative projects and with her recent move to Croatia, her love for her new home has inspired her most recent poetry project, The Heart of Croatia.
“The Heart of Croatia is guided by my experience of moving from the Western culture of Canada to the deeply historic and magical Croatia. This country has given me a second life. Her beauty overwhelms me, her history devastates me, and her abundance inspires me. Join me in my tribute to this country I now call home and in the evolution of my experiences, and my immersion in her magnificence.”
You heard whispers,
of a promise land
Tales of opportunity
to let your dreams expand
Money to be made,
food to be fed
Space to grow a family,
each kid its own bed
Your friends also heard
of the land of the free
So you all ventured off
keeping each other company
You showed up empty handed
you were leant a few dollars
But quickly realized
what it meant to be blue collared
You arrived in the summer
and they showed you estates
Feeding you the hope
of living behind community gates
Winter came quickly,
your bones chilling cold
All the money you earned
turned out to be fool’s gold
You built homes
with shivering hands
You would do whatever it took
to live out your plans
You brought a wife
and three sons
Leaving their home
and all their loved ones
I was born
and then my brother
With parents always working
we raised one another
At first there were friends
a real sense of comradery
Over time
became a rare commodity
Life in the west
was no joke
The pressure of survival
better not choke
This survival
it took its toll
With no time to rest,
to nourish the soul
I commend you
and all that you endured
But I can’t help but feel
the dream was obscured
The very land
you traded your life for
Started to weigh on me
left me wanting more
What is wrong
with children sharing a bed?
A small little house,
with homemade bread?
Less money in the bank,
more time on the clock
Perhaps a house on the sea,
maybe a boat on the dock
I wanted to feel my roots
and meet all of the people you left
A life that existed before me
felt like theft
So I took my family,
just like you took yours
And moved across the globe
to discover distant shores
The term “motherland”
finally made sense
Like a mother’s embrace
a peace so immense
I often wonder
did you take offence
that I took a U-turn
where you jumped the fence?
Your sweat and tears
were not shed without cause
They set me free
living without clenched jaws
The clean air,
the shining sun
The deep blue sea to jump in
when your day is done
It’s the home-made wine
and family meals
The garden soil
digging in your heals
It’s the aunts, uncles and cousins
I never got to meet
It’s the friendly neighbors
waving in the street
Croatia is my dream
and I intend to live it out
But I will always carry
a small amount of doubt
Maybe one day
my children will feel the same
That I took a away a life
that was theirs to claim
Fickle is life
and how our stories unfold
No way of knowing
what our futures behold
But I thank you
for showing me
The courage it takes
to follow your destiny
Where you left off
I will carry on
Until we meet again
and admire our lives forgone.
R.I.P. Tata
This poem was a letter to my late father, Branko Hrkać. I have witnessed all too well the lengths he went to give us a good life in Canada. For most of my life, I did not even consider what kind of life my parents left behind them. Only when I visited Croatia as an adult did I start to feel confusion. I started to realize that maybe the Canadian dream they were sold was not all it was cracked up to be.
I thank my parents and the country of Canada for raising me and shaping me into the person I am and I feel very blessed to have been born in the West. I feel even more grateful to have reconnected with the life of my parents that existed before me. To have visited their childhood homes, to understand their humble beginnings, and to meet all the relatives they knew and loved.
Croatia was not always what it is today and for that reason I understand why so many left this country to search for a better chance at life. I am fortunate to have returned to live in a very different Croatia, full of beauty and potential. I now have the best of both worlds, to have been raised on one end of the globe, and to be living in another. I find my sense of peace and balance in the center of these two worlds.
I know my parents were not the only who lived out this kind of struggle to achieve their goals and I would just like to commemorate all of those like them who found the courage to uproot their lives in search of something better.
