A SEND-OFF FOR FERLINGHETTI
I’ll fold three red blankets.
Turn them into squares.
A bird will sing through the night
with a voice of glass.
Out the window fog reveals
February’s ribs. The poet
enters circular spheres.
A different sun has opened his eyes.
The beaks of underworld herons
cast down heavy round coins.
Eyesight opens to translucence.
Those here on Earth can only celebrate:
101 years – 101 springs – 101 rivers
full of sparkling wine.
On his waves sail
nutshells loaded
with yearning & voice.
He longed for singing on Earth
which sings herself. He sang
like a gas station on a black summer night.
He sang like a Breton vagabond,
greenish-blue and sweetly.
He built a marquee of words,
bringing tightrope walkers to tears.
He shuffled through the bookstore,
Him, who traversed a century.
He shuffled and poems were born.
ADAM BORZIČ is a Czech poet, journalist and editor-in-chief of the literary fortnightly journal Tvar. He is a co-founder of the poetry group Fantasía (together with Kamil Bouška and Petr Řehák). He has published six poetry collections. Excerpts from his poetry have been translated into several European languages.
About the Translator:
DAVID VICHNAR is senior lecturer at the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures at Charles University Prague. He is also active as an editor, publisher and translator.