{"id":362,"date":"2011-12-24T11:17:14","date_gmt":"2011-12-24T11:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/?p=362"},"modified":"2016-11-19T19:12:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-19T18:12:22","slug":"engleski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/?p=362","title":{"rendered":"ENGLESKI"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE APPLE<\/strong>
\nJabuka<\/em><\/p>\n

I see granules of sunlight
\nBlend into her skin.<\/p>\n

All her appeal amassed
\nIn the arc of her reddish glow.
\nThe silence of distant mountains
\nCreeps into her through the stem.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s as if she has just come running
\nInto one\u2019s hands, books . . .
\nShe offers herself with lust, like a mistress
\nAs she lies there on the plate.<\/p>\n

Her mouth opens with secret keys
\nAnd she sheds her fine granules of sunlight.<\/p>\n

DREAMING THE DOE<\/strong><\/p>\n

San o ko\u0161uti<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Deep lake of the doe\u2019s eye with piped music of herbose lullaby. A dream.
\nIn the graceful saddle of her body I see blobs of stars and hear hoofbeats down the hill.
\nEscorted by the moon she visits the one she loves.
\nDrowsy and mellow from the beauty of the woods she cannot stop her trot.
\nShe runs all around in three little circles and lays her head on the edge of my soul.
\nWrapped in a thin veil of mystery, she opens the bottomless chasm of dreams.
\nWhen the moon sets it devours her contours.<\/p>\n

2.
\nGreen pond, calm waters full of stillness and whispers, a thin shadow bends and folds.
\nThe dead wing of bird still sways in the air and a handful of stars drown in the depths.
\nAsk me not what miracle brings me here at midnight to see your beauty from afar.
\nAsk me not what draws me to lie low and list the slumbering winds on your brow.
\nA lull falls from birch leaf and both of us are full of a silent fear and chill linked to the
\nshore, to the reeds.
\nStop, you forest beauty, don\u2019t drink that star of mine that has strayed into the water.<\/p>\n

3.
\nTwo purple blobs of eyes watch me from your dome.
\nMy thirsty fingers yearn to touch you more slender than the milky nocturnal waterfall.
\nIn the reeds wild lights dance the dance of the evil-headed snake.
\nFear not, oh Doe, a tree called morning will sprout from its head.
\nOver the sleeping water the Stag will come.
\nThe Stag will come, oh Doe, over the sleeping water.
\nSomething odd ties us in our insomnia. What got me drunk, what got me drunk?
\nTaste of wormwood on my tongue, shadows agonizingly shuffle on my palms.
\nBlind to this night, to this water, enraptured we move through the forest \u2013
\nthe whole forest fitting into her eye.<\/p>\n

4.
\nI run to the hilltop and shout into the distance: Morning!
\nWhite light pours down from the heavens.
\nShreds of stars fall out and day crosses the river in a silver coach.
\nWe go with bits of gloom in our soul, wrapped in webs of dreams, noose around our neck, ropes of daybreak around our arms.
\nBefore I awaken I shall reach the sea.
\nUnder the tower, under some tree a white rose grows out of my bones.
\nThe doe touches it with her eyes, and it grows a knee higher.
\nThe doe caresses it with her breath, for an armful of buds it fills the world.
\nThe sphere called a dream sways.
\nNot to bust.<\/p>\n

5.
\nI am the green grass on which she tremblingly treads.
\nA kind of sweet gratification fulfills me, something that nestles me to the scent.
\nHer eyes have spent the night in me.
\nShe runs across the field, runs over her own lightsome shadow.
\nTo jump out of myself, to pick up the gull that defected from my skull.
\nTo pick an apple from its tree. Intensify the beauty in me.<\/p>\n

CASCADE<\/strong>
\nSlap<\/em><\/p>\n

We keep the window open overnight and the heart
\nFor years. Like silenced gods we stare up
\nAt the pregnant stars while the light
\nPlunges down into the sea without a resonance
\nTo hover over the pebbles on the beach.
\nOnly one eye glitters in the sky, I know no other.
\nWe suffer from sleeplessness as we grow old
\nThinking of death and flesh. To all appearances we are still happy
\nThinking about the stars and keeping the window
\nOpen so as to look up at the heavens.<\/p>\n

In that silence we often fail to apprehend a cascade
\nOf moonlight, like the beauty of a woman that appears
\nWith the soft lines of body, yes I repeat, we do not
\nApprehend the cascade of light that
\nForebodingly carries us away into ruin.<\/p>\n

A MAIDEN AND THE LAKE<\/strong>
\nDevojka i jezero<\/em><\/p>\n

The first raindrops ripple the lake.
\nShower, but again the sun pours out.
\nThe glow inside me invisibly writes,
\nOf beauty that dazzles eyes.<\/p>\n

As if all strain and dust are washed away \u2013
\nStreaks golden now dash through the water.
\nAnd the stroke enhancing this beauty,
\nA girl that runs like a doe.<\/p>\n

A waterfall again bickers in my soul.
\nI hark: silence, a bird, a drop
\nThe inaudible echo elevates me<\/p>\n

From sorrows and distant dreams.
\nIndeed, airy and pure beauty
\nBrings back faith to the meaning of life.<\/p>\n

CALM, SEA, DREAM<\/strong>
\nMir, more, san<\/em><\/p>\n

A lonesome moment without the warmth of a woman\u2019s breath.
\nThe room looks out on the sea and its cups of foam.
\nMy face in the palms of my hands and eyes that roam:
\nThe table, books, apples, shadows of a darker tone.<\/p>\n

A moment of silence. Light covers objects with a golden hue:
\nWoods, birds, meadows, a flurry in the leaves of grass
\nA picture from bygone days that the mind cannot surpass,
\nA return to times that shined as bright as opal glass.<\/p>\n

A small heart twisting in love, a narrow stepping-stone
\nSpasmodically spattered by the subdued light of day
\nThe boggling hand is grown over with reeds, sedge, clay.<\/p>\n

Calm. The bone ripped from the body drifts.
\nThe purple tower of agony grows:
\nA fervent eye, tremors, sensations in rough throes.<\/p>\n

AN UNKNOWN SEED<\/strong>
\nNepoznata semenka<\/em><\/p>\n

We see her but we don\u2019t know her name
\nWe don\u2019t know what will sprout from her<\/p>\n

Mute and brimming with some rare secret
\nFrom our palms she gives us a cryptic smile<\/p>\n

Where should I sow her and with how much sunlight
\nSilence and how many drops to quench her thirst<\/p>\n

Will she grow a fragrant flower or release
\nA toxic thorn or fill the eye with brightness<\/p>\n

Nipped in the bud of her green knees
\nWill she crop a new leaf<\/p>\n

The more we look at her the less we know
\nShe will shoot up through the cracks in our soul<\/p>\n

RAIN AND BLADES OF GRASS<\/strong>
\nKi\u0161a i vlati<\/em><\/p>\n

A Dancer In the Rain<\/p>\n

Barefooted, enraptured, dreaming and bewitched.
\nThe dance of water in which every vein wades,
\nWith no inhibitions: a summer performance unhitched.<\/p>\n

Rhythm of raindrops, the subconscious echo of notes,
\nPollen and the uplifting smell of the linden tree,
\nAnd like a dream, the rain and tender blade connotes
\nA green brightness pouring down on hands on a spree.<\/p>\n

Wet hair and dress clinging tight to her body,
\nDancing in the rain is the dance of her life,
\nDoe-like she lightly jumps and her moves aren’t gaudy.<\/p>\n

A rain goddess glowing with beauty.
\nWe watch her somewhat amazed \u2013
\nA dancer in the rain or a girl half-crazed.<\/p>\n

STARS ON THE PILLOW<\/strong>
\nZvezde na uzglavlju<\/em><\/p>\n

That separateness
\nBeauty of years around the waist
\nLasting kisses<\/p>\n

Pale in expectation
\nShe follows my gaze
\nAnd the routes of my hands<\/p>\n

I know that sign
\nSecret gesture of love
\nHuddled shoulders
\nEyes under petals
\nBody trembling with pleasant fear<\/p>\n

White as a water lily
\nSo young and tender
\nI can not even bring her
\nInto a poem<\/p>\n

Only kisses of night remain
\nAnd late stars on the pillow<\/p>\n

LADYLOVE
\n<\/strong>Draga<\/em><\/p>\n

Willowy, on the warm summer sand, my ladylove lies
\nHer eyes open as her gaze penetrates the skies
\nHer secret protected by her enigmatic smile<\/p>\n

I approach and stretch out beside her and wait
\nFor a piece of summer to enter my eyes as well
\nAnd I wait a whole eternity and even longer<\/p>\n

I have no luck but my ladylove is fortunate
\nAll of her converts into lovemaking and
\nInexplicable laughter sticks in her throat<\/p>\n

If she desires she can light up a new sun with her lips
\nAnd with her slim arms bring it down from its heights<\/p>\n

NOTE ON A MAIDEN<\/strong>
\nBele\u0161ka o devoj\u010dici<\/em><\/p>\n

Maiden, your body is the sea your arms the waves
\nEyes, color of water emitting rays of innocence
\nAll of May sleeps in your hair of floral curls
\nThe freshness of your breath makes me dizzy<\/p>\n

I see: gulls flying from the palms of your hands
\nThe struck down sun daydreams in your muscles
\nFawns are serene in the meadows of your words
\nAfter you the locust-trees are in blossom<\/p>\n

Maiden, your body is the sea and within your stature
\nA small doe from some faraway regions breathes
\nSomething of your footsteps is in the sand<\/p>\n

Something of your restlessness is in the wave
\nAnd now, my little one, you suddenly want to be
\nAs ripe as tropical fruit, as ripe as an orange tree<\/p>\n

THE EYES OF MY BELOVED AS SHE SEES ME OFF<\/strong>
\nO\u010di moje drage dok me ispra\u0107a<\/em><\/p>\n

My beloved has eyes like raindrops in a rose
\nAs she sees me off from the threshold of our home
\nA dark sun dances under the roof of our years
\nLightnings of despair flash through our veins<\/p>\n

A warm sunset oozes over the purple hills
\nAnd enters my beloved like a perfume thief
\nMy beloved puts her ear to a shell and hears nothing
\nBut the striking of sea waves<\/p>\n

She waves her hands like a swallow waves its wings
\nI don\u2019t see anything anymore but I kiss the dear eye of my beloved
\nAs I anticipate the bitter years of absence
\nEverything barren. Only a broken heart remains<\/p>\n

A QUINCE OR A WOMAN<\/strong>
\nDunja ili \u017eena<\/em><\/p>\n

Why aren\u2019t you a quince, its smell, mark of freshness
\nColor that seduces the eye and leads the mind astray
\nBare flesh clothed in mist of desire, those
\nHips under the dress in the folds of the wind<\/p>\n

I wondered, how to draw you unreal
\nAs you run across the surface of the sea to disappear
\nFar away into a point of white flesh like a seagull
\nI ripped myself away from my soul as I fled<\/p>\n

And I spelled out the color of your iris in my thoughts
\nI went into the unknown to explore your little heart
\nI kept my eyes peeled on the quinces on my table
\nTheir voluptuous form like the pink skin of your body<\/p>\n

THE MAIDEN DRAWS HER KNEES TOGETHER<\/strong>
\nDevoj\u010dica skuplja svoja kolena<\/em><\/p>\n

The maiden draws her white knees together
\nTwo nuggets of brightness, two drops of tenderness
\nFlowers that break up into petals
\nModestly, she loves the touch of my palms on them.<\/p>\n

My blood brings her out into the miraculous light
\nBut the firm padlocks of love do not open
\nEven the kisses and little flames that in secrecy
\nBurn deep down in her eyes are of no help<\/p>\n

Her whiteness spreads through the April of her young body
\nI learned nothing from that first kiss and see
\nThat the hunger grows greater with the years
\nAs we await morning\u2019s arrival and the light in the distance.<\/p>\n

Translated from Serbian into English bi Slobodan Drenovac<\/em><\/p>\n

JOVICA DJURDJIC<\/strong>\u00a0 (born October 3, 1949 in Glogovica near Doboj, Republic Srpska), prose-writer and poet. Received academic degree upon completion of studies at the Teachers College of the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka. Member of the Writers Association of Serbia and Writers Society of Republika Srpska.<\/p>\n

The author of thirteen books of poetry and prose for children and adults, his writing has been published in numerous newspapers and periodicals. Some works have been translated into foreign languages such as English, Russian, Italian, Polish, Czech, Turkish, Slovenian, Macedonian, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Hungarian, Ruthenian, Danish, Norwegian, Esperanto, Chinese etc.<\/p>\n

Published books:<\/p>\n

THE DORMANT MAIDEN (Usnula devojka<\/em>), poems, Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1974;<\/p>\n

LARISSA (Larisa<\/em>), poems, Rije\u010dko knji\u017eevno dru\u0161tvo, Rijeka, 1974;<\/p>\n

THE PURPLE MOUNTAINS (Ljubi\u010dasto gorje<\/em>), poems, Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1976;<\/p>\n

SLEEPYHEAD\u2019S DREAM (Sanak Sklopio\u010di\u0107<\/em>), children\u2019s stories, Izdava\u010dki centar Rijeka, Rijeka, 1983;<\/p>\n

HOW I LOVE ANNA (Kako volim Anu<\/em>), children\u2019s poems, Otokar Ker\u0161ovani, Opatija, 1983;<\/p>\n

HANDS OF EVENING LOVERS (Ruke ve\u010dernjih ljubavnika<\/em>), poems, Izdava\u010dki centar Rijeka, Rijeka, 1984;<\/p>\n

A GRACEFUL FIGURE (Ljupko telo<\/em>), poems, Partizanska knjiga, Ljubljana, 1985;<\/p>\n

THE ROE AND WATER LILIES (Ko\u0161uta i lopo\u010di<\/em>), bilingual book of poems, Vikend knjiga, Belgrade, 2000;<\/p>\n

THE WRESTED SCRIPT (Istrgnuti rukopis<\/em>), poems, Interpress, Belgrade, 2004;<\/p>\n

HER EYES THE SEA (Njene o\u010di more<\/em>), a bibliophilic edition of poems (21 copies), Knji\u017eevni atelje Art, Malinska, 2004;<\/p>\n

GERALDINE THE GIRAFFE (\u017dirafa \u017deraldina<\/em>), children\u2019s poems, first edition, Ars Poetica, Belgrade, 2005, second edition Ars Poetica, Belgrade, 2006;<\/p>\n

SIMONE\u2019S EYES (Simonine o\u010di<\/em>), children\u2019s stories, first edition, Bookland, Belgrade, 2006, second edition Ars Poetica, Belgrade, 2006;<\/p>\n

IT\u2019S SWELL TO BE AT HOME (Lepo je biti kod ku\u0107e<\/em>), children\u2019s poems, first edition, Bookland, Belgrade, 2008, second edition Ars Poetica, Belgrade, 2008;<\/p>\n

STARS ON A PILLOW, (Zvezde na uzglavlju<\/em>), twelve poems\u00a0in twenty foreign languages enriched by the paintings of Olja Ivanjicki, Ars Poetica, Belgrade 2009;<\/p>\n

KALINA AND THE SEAHORSE, (Kalina i morski <\/em>konjic), children’s stories , Aes Poetica, Belgrade, 2010;<\/p>\n

A SUMMER WITHOUT VERONICA, (Leto bez Veronike<\/em>), children’s stories, Bookland, Belgrade 2011;<\/p>\n

RAIN AND BLADES OF GRASS, (Ki\u0161a i vlati<\/em>), a selection of old and new poems, bilingual in Serbian and Polish, Ofocyna Wydawnicza, Warsaw, 2012;<\/p>\n

THE INTOXICATING SCENT OF SIN, (Opojni miris greha<\/em>), stories, Prometej, Novi Sad, 2012;<\/p>\n

A TASTE OF FIRST KISSES, (Ukus prvih poljubaca<\/em>), a novel for children, Bookland, Belgrade, 2014;<\/p>\n

APRICOTS FOR HANNAH, (Kajsije za Hanu<\/em>), a novel for children, Bookland, Belgrade 2015;<\/p>\n

TENDER YEARS, (Ne\u017ene godine<\/em>), children’s stories, Bookland, Belgrade 2016.<\/p>\n

The author is a double winner of the \u201eDrago Gervais\u201c Award and the Gold Badge\u00a0 of the Cultural & Educational Community\u00a0 of Serbia, as well as of other prizes in literary competitions. He is represented in numerous anthologies and many poetry selections.<\/p>\n

poezija@mac.com\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.jovicadjurdjic.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE APPLE<\/strong>
<\/em><\/p>\n

I see granules of sunlight
Blend into her skin.
All her appeal amassed
In the arc of her reddish glow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2724,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions\/2724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovicadjurdjic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}