Slovakian Spring – Part 3 For our last instalment, we introduce five lyrical poets who responded to our call. We hope that their poetic outlook speaks across borders, and shows different dimensions of being. ‘near the blue woods’ by Marta Franeková between the water and waterplant mejust beyond the meadow for which bees have always meant everything I’ll breathe in greedily as if I’d never existed for real and in reality until now In a forest full of consciousnessI wake up my own hands and they in the same instant fly awaythe trees dress themselves in the festive costumes we’ll be together and invoke heaven with our eyes for to use my voice would not be appropriate the day I begin to ignore the light I shall count the growth rings I’ve lived and when it’s decided when the time comes to cut me downI’ll fall in your directiontherewhere we felt the bare moss under our feet ‘Rebirth’ by Judita Ďurčová Kneeling on the seashore I pick up the fragments of the autumn goblins made of glass, who sleep by the door of the soul of fire. At the midnight innThe White Death awaits me His serpent-like eyes are full of sadness, while silken trees are caressing my cheeks… On the stairs of the blue rainbowHe leads me by the hand to the sacred ruins where angels dance in the golden grass. ‘Pinning’ by Vlasta Mesárošová You give me crooked drawing pins.At least I can hold my breath.They say:“Don’t whine, keep walking, kneepads enjoy the whole experience!” I’ve got used to the magicianpulling out bad luck from the hat for me.Wrapped in shrapnel, just in case,to –to hold together better,so it won’t vanish with the next day,to scrape the gilding off the bone,…the slashes on my knees don’t hurt ‘The Sun Is Love’ by Anton Andrej Pižurný Like the metastasis of evil todayenvy pervades everywhere, changing subtly into hatred.The god Ares rubsHis hands with glee.He doesn’t have to think of any schemes, we’ll kill each other without him.Yet again, the sun rises.It’s still up there, mighty and unrivaled.Yet, Hope like pollen still paints our mornings.The Sun is Love.Where does a good man live?In each one of us.In everyone.Really? ‘City’ by Dušan Láznička Fire!fearthe city of screams Deathwill perfectthe pulse of the present ruins corpsesTime – absolutely certain absurdity x x x the city of sleepnot worth pantingI seethe pleasure of the ruinsthe whiteness of the glowthe fire of the dead chillnothingnessmalignant silencespacewithout emptiness I feelThe coldness of the fearlast in the eyes – my sorrowsmognear the temple a REVOLVER Meet the Poets! Judita Ďurčová (1983), a poet and prose writer, read history at the University in Bratislava, Slovakia. She lives in Nové Město nad Váhom. Her poems appear regularly in literary magazines. Marta Franeková was born in 1961, in Námestov. She lives and works as a kindergarten teacher in Oravské Veselý. Her work has been published in the following periodicals: Dotyki, Literary Weekly, in the magazine Vertigo, in the collections of the literary portal Litweb; the latter one also published her collection Oh Willow, Willow in the anthologies Pars Artem and Svetlom modrý. She made her book debut in 2012 with the collection Mute Herons (DALi Košice); in 2015 she published the collection Odklonené svety (DALi Košice) with the support of the State Literary Fund, and in 2019 her poetry book Rozprávanky (Perfekt Bratislava) was again financially supported by the Literary Fund. Dušan Láznička (b. 1975) started his literary work when styding a in high school. His science fiction triptych was awarded third place in the National Literary Competition for Secondary School students. Later, he worked as an editor (Christian magazine Plátok), essayist and poet. In the second half of the 1990s he joined the Omega Literary Club in Trenčín, where he published poetry and prose in their collections and anthologies. He was the editor-in-chief of the club’s magazine Ars – Verbum. In 2012, he won second place in the prose category of the Jozef Branecký Literary Competition. In 2019, Pars Artem published his collection Journeys, which is his tribute to surrealism. In it, he experiments with automatic text and surreal images. Vlasta Mesárošová was born in 1969 to a family of mixed nationalities. Part Hungarian, Slovak, German and Roma Gypsy, her literary poeticism is influenced by this rich heritage. Vlasta studied social work and has devoted her whole life to helping others. She is also involved in humanitarian aid. She is a family person, very proud of her husband and two sons. Anton Andrej Pižurný, born in 1961 near Zilina, is a writer, copywriter, publisher, editor, and radio presenter. He has authored 11 prose and poetry books. Moreover, he has written 5 books of reportages and 7 books for children. His other activities involve script writing and an ongoing collaboration with the Ministry for Education in Slovakia. He lives in Bratislava with his wife and three children. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... Published by fragmentedvoices A small, independent press based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, and Prague, the Czech Republic View all posts by fragmentedvoices