[I LIVE]
I live
in a goshawk’s flightpath
the wing’s shadow
across the face
invites one
to follow
[SAY IT]
say it
briefly
like
a finch’s whistle
a horse’s whinny
a dog’s bark
a jay’s cry
a doe’s bleat
so
tightly
fully
clearly
PAVLA MELKOVÁ is a practicing architect, visual artist and writer who regularly lectures on art and architecture. Her widely-recognized architecture is visible throughout the Czech Republic, where she has won numerous awards, including Architect of the Year (2014), the Prague Mayor’s Prize (2012), and the National Prize for Architecture (2012). She has published seven books on architecture, including most recently The Humanistic Role of Architecture (2016) and The Architecture of Reciprocity (2020), and is a regular contributor to professional architecture journals, anthologies, and collaborative works. Her two volumes of poetry include The Edges of the Day (2017) and Inner Time (2019). In 2012, she founded the Office for Public Space at the Institute for Planning and Development of the City of Prague (IPR), which she headed until 2017. She currently serves as deputy chair of the IPR Council and is a partner at the architecture firm MCA atelier, which she co-founded. She teaches at the Czech Technical University School of Architecture.
About the Translator:
JOSHUA MENSCH is a poet and translator based in the Czech Republic. He is the author of Because: A Lyric Memoir (W. W. Norton, 20218). He has served as an editor of B O D Y since 2012.