An Anthology of Croatian Literature

Danijel Dragojevic (1934- )

Danijel Dragojević (1934– ) An art historian and art critic from coastal Croatia, Dragojević is considered to be among the more important contemporary Croatian poets. He debuted with a collection of poetry in 1961, and has published both poetry and prose consistently since then. The two poems below are from Exclamations: An Anthology of Croatian Poetry 1971–1995 (Zagreb: The Bridge, 2001): 143– 45; the translator is Miljenko Kovačićek. The prose selection is from Croatian Literature 2004–2005 Catalogue (Zagreb: Centar za knjigu/Croatian Book Center, 2005): 19; the translator is Mario Suško. An Anthology of Croatian Literature 280 Snails in Split Fish Market Then I nearly overlook a woman by the door who shakes snails out of a sack on a stone plate. Their big shells create tempting curvatures with delicate patterns and they come out of them as soon as they feel the stone, the cold and moisture, they spread their bodies, stick out their two little and two big horns and set off towards the edge into their disappear. Disappear anywhere, disappear everywhere, certainly disappear out of the shade of these ominously straight scales. And above there is a kind of female God with stick. As soon as one approaches the edge she hits it on the horns. Before the stroke, feeling the evil from above, the snail draws in, keeps quiet for a while and comes out again. A harpsichord player strikes her notes, does not play them, alive and nicely written they run away, they move, sneak in, sneak out, turn without knowing where to, which way and when. Like from a crazy mother and unhappy father. An invisible motor tick-tocks in the port and the island of Brač is suddenly only a few steps away. From a big height where two careful eyes turn the slowness presented to them from a distant star gets upset here in the city hassle. Where to? They rear without a sound at the edge of the abyss where dew gets lost forever, where light gets turned off. Where to? All sides of the world, greenery, edges, and the rich emptiness are suddenly crushed. Shall I say to myself or out loud that they should return to the space of fine enamel and wait here without defiance? Shall I play the wisdom that has added up and subtracted everything and knows the pitiful outcome of other outcomes? Danijel Dragojević 281 What shall I do? Something has surely been said about this in a foreign language. I do not know anything about that. I have not heard. Shadows pile up in uneven distances. A moisture vibrates in front of my eyes and falls on my mind. A Footnote About Knots There are prophets, preachers, right believers those with one faith, temples, adoration those who know what you are to do virtues, dogmas, conversions, sanctities confessors, generals, doctors But it’s nobody’s business that a rose is blooming in my garden There are fierce ones, faithful ones, chosen ones regulations, reconstructors, reformers purists, know-alls, fanatics monks, soldiers, speakers party members, one-party minded, teachers But it’s nobody’s business that a rose is blooming in my garden There are all sorts of unities, all kinds of WE futurologists, judges, witnesses, classics liberators, conscious ones, leaders, legislators saviors, free-thinkers, jailers commanders in charge of your wellbeing sworn ones, secret ones, those willing to sacrifice of course always in any way everywhere by all means forever in abundance and yet only But it’s nobody’s business that a rose is blooming in my garden. An Anthology of Croatian Literature 282 A Note When Vladimir Biti, a professor and a literary theoretician, got back from Germany, he told me about things that impressed him on his trip. I thought of you, he said, when I was at the birthplace of Goethe in Frankfurt. Next to Goethe’s bedroom there’s a room where a madman stayed. That was nothing out of the ordinary for families like Goethe’s, to take in and support a madman : to have a dog and a madman. As I expected, Biti gave no reasons for such an act, why that room was adjacent to young Goethe’s, nor did he try to clarify anything else. He let my lack of information deal with it. Also, he didn’t mention why he, going into that room, remembered me, what I...