This is the name of my poetry book I published in 2002. It is a book that reflects the painful emotions of an emigrant, who leaves behind, as it is said in one of the poems:

"The home in which I was born,
my friends from childhood,
my relatives, my father, and my mother."

This price is high. Very, very high. And so are the expectations in return.

"Can I reach the sky and freely fly if I pull myself out of the roots?", I asked in one of my poems, though I already knew the answer.

Is it a fair trade to exchange the Valley of the Roses for the convenience of the freeways? The warmth of my parents' home for the neon of the big city lights? The sweet memories of my youth for the adventure of an unknown life? The sounds of the lambs in my grandmother's backyard for the guitars of rock 'n' roll? The beauty of the native lullabies for the struggle to express my thoughts and feelings in a foreign language?

Questions. Questions. Questions…

And the answers are given in more questions.

Should I feel guilty, that at my age, I "taste" freedom?

The freedom to walk on my own?

To talk and be heard?

To be myself outside of my little country?

Questions. Questions…

However,

The choice is made.
The path is taken.
No room for regrets,
Despite the price.

By Daphne Karcheva-Orris

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