Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Bojan Radašinović

Simply about people

Sandra Manuela her daddy and I
went to visit
my mother in Zagorje
a big event for both families
checking out a dowry  
my mum boiled the rooster
and made soup with noodles
she baked and deep-fried the meat
and prepared three different side dishes
two kinds of salads and a cheese pie
she served the meals in her best tableware
and she used the tablecloth for special occasions
it was summertime and we were eating outside
in the shadow of two birches and a jasmine tree
her dad was disappointed
he does not like poverty
he barely escaped from it
he said that the house should be demolished  
that all of it was worth nothing
he did not pay any attention
to the things my mum was saying
about an emotional attachment to the house
about the memories and the lack of money
he agreed to fix the door
he kicked a thick wire
that was holding the door


*


during the summer of love
my mum went hitchhiking
to Turkey and Syria
Lebanon and Jordan
she rode a horse
through the ancient town of Petra
carved in stone
she swam in the Red Sea
and on the Syrian-Lebanon border
she refused a skillfully rolled joint
from the chief of the police station
when the TV news announced
that the bomb of a Palestinian
suicide bomber had gone off too soon
she is sorry for the boy
she is angry when in a documentary movie
Petra has not been shown according to her taste
she yells at the TV
why didn’t you film or
show the most important things
look, they skipped even that
it seems that time stands still
or it goes back thirty
something years
on that journey
she did not take a single photo
she wanted to be different
from the stupid tourists
and their cameras
  

Jednostavno o ljudima

Jednostavno o ljudima

sandra manuela njihov tata i ja
išli smo u posjet
mojoj mami u zagorje
velik događaj za obje obitelji
provjeravanje popudbine
moja mama je skuhala kokota
i domaću juhu s rezancima
ispekla i ispohala meso
napravila tri priloga
dvije vrste salate i bućnicu
jelo je poslužila u najboljem posuđu
i stavila svečani stolnjak
bilo je ljeto i jeli smo vani
u hladu dviju breza i jasmina
njihov tata je bio razočaran
on ne voli siromaštvo
jedva je i sam od njega pobjegao
rekao je da kuću treba srušiti
da se sve to ne isplati
nije se obazirao na ono
što mu je moma mama govorila
o emotivnoj vezanosti za kuću
uspomenama i nedostatku novca
pristao je popraviti vrata
šutnuo je debelu žicu
koja ih je držala


*


oko ljeta ljubavi
moja mama je autostopom
prošla tursku siriju
libanon i jordan
na konju je ujahala
u drevni grad petru
uklesan u kamenu
kupala se u crvenom moru
i odbila vješto smotan joint
od šefa policijske stanice
na sirijsko-libanonskoj granici
kad jave na televiziji
da se bomba palestinskog
samoubojice prerano aktivirala
žao joj je tog dečka
ljuti se kad u dokumentarcu
ne prikažu petru po njezinom ukusu
viče na televizor
zašto nisu snimili ili
pokazali najbitnije stvari
gle i to nosu rekli
vrijeme kao da stane
ili se vrati tih tridesetak
godina unatrag
nije donijela niti jednu
fotografiju s tog putovanja
htjela se razlikovati
od bezveznih turista
i njihovih fotoaparata
Close

Simply about people

Sandra Manuela her daddy and I
went to visit
my mother in Zagorje
a big event for both families
checking out a dowry  
my mum boiled the rooster
and made soup with noodles
she baked and deep-fried the meat
and prepared three different side dishes
two kinds of salads and a cheese pie
she served the meals in her best tableware
and she used the tablecloth for special occasions
it was summertime and we were eating outside
in the shadow of two birches and a jasmine tree
her dad was disappointed
he does not like poverty
he barely escaped from it
he said that the house should be demolished  
that all of it was worth nothing
he did not pay any attention
to the things my mum was saying
about an emotional attachment to the house
about the memories and the lack of money
he agreed to fix the door
he kicked a thick wire
that was holding the door


*


during the summer of love
my mum went hitchhiking
to Turkey and Syria
Lebanon and Jordan
she rode a horse
through the ancient town of Petra
carved in stone
she swam in the Red Sea
and on the Syrian-Lebanon border
she refused a skillfully rolled joint
from the chief of the police station
when the TV news announced
that the bomb of a Palestinian
suicide bomber had gone off too soon
she is sorry for the boy
she is angry when in a documentary movie
Petra has not been shown according to her taste
she yells at the TV
why didn’t you film or
show the most important things
look, they skipped even that
it seems that time stands still
or it goes back thirty
something years
on that journey
she did not take a single photo
she wanted to be different
from the stupid tourists
and their cameras
  

Simply about people

Sandra Manuela her daddy and I
went to visit
my mother in Zagorje
a big event for both families
checking out a dowry  
my mum boiled the rooster
and made soup with noodles
she baked and deep-fried the meat
and prepared three different side dishes
two kinds of salads and a cheese pie
she served the meals in her best tableware
and she used the tablecloth for special occasions
it was summertime and we were eating outside
in the shadow of two birches and a jasmine tree
her dad was disappointed
he does not like poverty
he barely escaped from it
he said that the house should be demolished  
that all of it was worth nothing
he did not pay any attention
to the things my mum was saying
about an emotional attachment to the house
about the memories and the lack of money
he agreed to fix the door
he kicked a thick wire
that was holding the door


*


during the summer of love
my mum went hitchhiking
to Turkey and Syria
Lebanon and Jordan
she rode a horse
through the ancient town of Petra
carved in stone
she swam in the Red Sea
and on the Syrian-Lebanon border
she refused a skillfully rolled joint
from the chief of the police station
when the TV news announced
that the bomb of a Palestinian
suicide bomber had gone off too soon
she is sorry for the boy
she is angry when in a documentary movie
Petra has not been shown according to her taste
she yells at the TV
why didn’t you film or
show the most important things
look, they skipped even that
it seems that time stands still
or it goes back thirty
something years
on that journey
she did not take a single photo
she wanted to be different
from the stupid tourists
and their cameras
  
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