Monday, April 21, 2014

Unpronounceable




We are walking round the Ada lake.
There are people and dogs and little children.
It's Easter Monday 2014.
I am taking pictures to share on Facebook.
We visit the Science Park and the fake triangle.
We use our arms to tell the time on the sundial
The clock is late, we are not.
We have a whole day, the three of us.
Luka is sorry that there will be no mini-golf,
but we're on a mission, we must walk round the lake
and we have to drink coffee somewhere along the way.
Though, I have had enough coffee today already.
Maybe a lemonade or something like that.
We find a good cafe on the beach.
Of course, the season hasn't started
and nobody's swimming, except the dogs.
We are sitting forever and the waiter is really slow,
but that's OK, it's nice here.
In the meantime, I read my email
and find out about this Frank O'Hara poem that I must write today.
I am a real poet and I can do a Frank O'Hara poem
if that's what's needed.
But, how will you read the names?
This is not New York, this is Belgrade
and all my friends have really funny names
that you would find unpronounceable.
So I just sit instead and watch the clouds coming
and remember how beautiful the weather was last September
as we swam in the lake.
We were very happy about something and life was good.
A lifeguard shouted at us to come back
as two boats slowly circled round,
the people inside searching for something.
A diver came out and shook his head
and they went on and I said:
"Please, take me home"
and that evening they said that a boy had drowned,
I don't remember his name, but you would probably find it
unpronounceable.



It is Day 21 in NaPoWriMo and our task was to write a "New York School" poem. I thought it was going to be a lot of fun, which it was, but at the same time it was very hard. Stepping out of your usual voice and writing like somebody else is never easy. One of the biggest challenges for me was the "name-dropping" and I was reminded, once again, that I am doing this challenge in a language that is not my own.

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