Youth is Not Forever: Senior Citizens from Zamość Reflect on Old Age and Passing. Such is the title of a volume of verse and poetic prose authored by members and friends of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość (VCZ). Among the contributors, there are beneficiaries of the “Still needed” project, seniors aged under 75 years, volunteers and regular members of the Daytime Community Centre. Their ages range between 60 and 88. Three of them, Irena Polkowska, Stanisława Łogonowicz and Marian Karczmarczyk already have some published collections of poems to their credit. The other authors made their debut: Eugeniusz Cybulski penned interesting sonnets, Barbara Mazurkiewicz and Janina Jabłońska wrote intimate lyric poems, and the most senior author, Janina Poździk, composed poems revolving around life and nature. The volume also includes works of poetic prose by another senior, Sabina Kędziera.

“When selecting poems to be published in the collection, I tried to choose pieces that would be consonant with its title. I selected those depicting the passage of time, everyday matters, my fascination with the world. At the same time, some of my works are about existential pain, loneliness and a deeply held belief that there is the Great Beyond, and God is almighty. The poems are full of feelings and emotions. They resonate with optimism and good humour − especially those that deal with the topic of inescapable old age, whose presence on has no choice but to accept. Did I succeed? Well, see for yourselves,” writes Krystyna Rybińska-Smyk (who was the editor as well as the initiator of the project) in the introduction. The volume has been released within the framework of “3S – Senior Community Station in Zamość”