Gedicht

Predrag Lucić

Side by side

Man Is Not a Bird

I spin this story in my head about Siljan the Stork
Who is both here and there
As I walk towards the cape of Konjsko
Hoping for a trophy shot
Of the only European pelican

Naturally they don’t let me come too close
Chirping “Birdy!”
They wave to me from the distance instead:
Regards from the Lake of Prespa

But I am neither Siljan nor a stork
I am neither here nor there
I am nowhere to be precise

I can neither swim nor fly
Neither of the two
As I’m neither a rosy pelican nor an ordinary one

As un-nestled as I am
I’m trying to figure out what Frans Lanting
Tim Laman
Quinton and Nigge
And all those folks
Who take pictures of birds in flight
For National Geographic
Might do in a moment like this.

And how much salt they carry with them
To sprinkle on the birds’ tails

Siljan Roda, or Siljan “the Stork”: the hero of a Macedonian tale who left his home only to end up shipwrecked in some faraway country where he was transformed into a stork, destined to spend the rest of his life on the chimney of his house watching his family, who as unable to recognise him.

Čovek nije tica

Vrtim priču o Siljanu Rodi
Koji je i tu i tamo
Dok gazim ka rtu u Konjskom
Da uslikam trofejnu fotku
Jedinih europskih pelikana

Oni naravno ne čekaju
Da priđem blizu
I “Ptičica!” kažem
Iz daljine mi krilima mašu
Puno pozdrava s Prespanskog jezera

A ja ni Siljan ni Roda
Nit sam tu nit sam tamo
Baš nigdje

Ni da poletim ni da zaplivam
Ništa
Ni nesit ni pelikan

Pa takav nigdjevan mislim
Šta rade Frans Lanting
Tim Laman
Quinton i Nigge
I sva ta škvadra
Što snima ptice u letu
Za National Geographic

Koliko soli sa sobom nose
Da je pticama stave na rep