Poem
Damir Šodan
WHAT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE
All said and donehis treatise on redemption
ended up in a black plastic garbage bag
amid the scattered pieces of furniture
where a little girl sits leafing
through a picture-book about algae.
Soon the door will unhinge itself from the house
(at least it looks that way)
and walk away across the meadow
trailing along behind the invisible quivers.
But once you’ve entered
that measure for mud
that muddled promise of spring . . .
(his tongue almost mumbled
out something like that)
anyway, try not to go on dying for so long
like Violetta in La Traviata
on the pages of the New Year
edition of a TV-guide.
This is not the time for salvos and prophecies.
He feels a sudden urge to embark on a plastic gondola
or get down to sharpening pencils.
Yes, pencils, why not?
© Translation: 2005, Damir Šodan and Majda Bakočević
O čemu ne govorimo kad govorimo o ljubavi
O čemu ne govorimo kad govorimo o ljubavi
nakon sveganjegov traktat o iskupljenju
završio je u crnim vrećama
među razbacanim dijelovima
namještaja gdje jedna djevojčica
sjedi i lista slikovnicu
o algama. ubrzo će se i vrata
odlijepiti od kuće
(barem to tako izgleda)
i krenuti pravo niz utrinu
za nevidljivim tobolcima.
ali kada jednom uđeš
u tu mjeru za blato
u to mutno obećanje proljeća . . .
(skoro da je i tako nešto
prevalio preko jezika)
uglavnom nastoj ne umirati dugo
kao Violetta u Traviati
na stranicama novogodišnjeg programa.
ovo nije vrijeme za salve i proroštva.
dođe mu da se ukrca
na plastičnu gondolu
i posveti se oštrenju olovaka.
da – olovaka.
© 2001, Damir Šodan
From: Srednji svijet
Publisher: Naklada MD, Zagreb
From: Srednji svijet
Publisher: Naklada MD, Zagreb
Poems
Poems of Damir Šodan
Close
WHAT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE
All said and donehis treatise on redemption
ended up in a black plastic garbage bag
amid the scattered pieces of furniture
where a little girl sits leafing
through a picture-book about algae.
Soon the door will unhinge itself from the house
(at least it looks that way)
and walk away across the meadow
trailing along behind the invisible quivers.
But once you’ve entered
that measure for mud
that muddled promise of spring . . .
(his tongue almost mumbled
out something like that)
anyway, try not to go on dying for so long
like Violetta in La Traviata
on the pages of the New Year
edition of a TV-guide.
This is not the time for salvos and prophecies.
He feels a sudden urge to embark on a plastic gondola
or get down to sharpening pencils.
Yes, pencils, why not?
© 2005, Damir Šodan and Majda Bakočević
From: Srednji svijet
From: Srednji svijet
WHAT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE
All said and donehis treatise on redemption
ended up in a black plastic garbage bag
amid the scattered pieces of furniture
where a little girl sits leafing
through a picture-book about algae.
Soon the door will unhinge itself from the house
(at least it looks that way)
and walk away across the meadow
trailing along behind the invisible quivers.
But once you’ve entered
that measure for mud
that muddled promise of spring . . .
(his tongue almost mumbled
out something like that)
anyway, try not to go on dying for so long
like Violetta in La Traviata
on the pages of the New Year
edition of a TV-guide.
This is not the time for salvos and prophecies.
He feels a sudden urge to embark on a plastic gondola
or get down to sharpening pencils.
Yes, pencils, why not?
© 2005, Damir Šodan and Majda Bakočević
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