October the 24th, 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.”
Have you heard of the City of Heroes?
Where war was their soundtrack
Bombs and missiles
rang like evil whistles
A city under attack,
complete despair
Boys made into men overnight,
no time to learn to fight
20 thousand people
left without a home
Rubble beneath their feet
bodies dead in the street
There stood a water tower
with the flag waving above
A symbol of independence
a hope for transcendence
Out of the suffering
rose a young man
Who pushed fear aside
who wanted his people dignified
Ivica Ivanika,
watched the water tower
Bombed more than 600 times
He had enough of the crimes
Each time the flag was bombed
he would climb at night to replace it
Risking his life in the dark
to reclaim their landmark
Each time the enemy
saw the flag replaced
Their rage grew in spades,
they tossed more grenades
Every night Ivicia climbed,
his bravery inspiring others
Hrvoje Džalto joined the mission,
men tired of the abolition
The people of Vukovar
gathered their flags
So the two men could carry out
and spark a light in a black out
The echoes of war,
tears in the mothers’ eyes
The fight ensued
but these two men pursued
When all else was failing
lives being taken by the second
The flag waved in the wind
like a beacon of hope pinned
The people kept their eyes fixed
on any chance of salvation
Harm, ruin and loss,
gripping of the cross
It’s the sacrifice of the people
to protect one another
To remind each other of why they fight
to defend their birth right
Ivica and Hrvoje,
your bravery never forgotten
A mark of their military boots
engraved at the water tower roots
Every year people stand it its place
to be humbly reminded
That freedom comes at a cost
and to never forget those we have lost.
When the anniversary of the Battle of Vukovar was approaching, my husband suggested that maybe I should write a piece on this historical and monumental battle. I was immediately overwhelmed. Although I am of Croatian blood, I am always hesitant to comment on any matters of Croatian politics and/or history because I was not born here and feel like it is not my place to share my opinion on something that I do not understand.
I sat at my computer for many hours watching videos from the Battle of Vukovar and wept as I witnessed the pain and torture the people of Vukovar endured. There are many points of confliction in topics of politics and war, but one thing I hope we can all empathize with is the suffering of humanity. The weight of war is heavy regardless of your position.
As I was immersing myself in the sorrow of that time, I came across an incredible story of two men who fought in the Battle of Vukovar, Ivica Ivanika and Hrvoje Džalto. I immediately knew that I had found a way to write about Vukovar from a specific angle that does not involve political opinions, but just the sharing of the courage these two men possessed. Their story was one of hope, of light, in a very dark time. I hope you enjoy their story as much as I did and perhaps one day you too can visit their monument at the bottom of the water tower and stand in the footprints of heroes.
