Obren Ristić


Obren Ristic (1960) is a Serbian poet, short story writer and anthologist. His poems have been published in numerous literary magazines and are included in several collections and anthologies, including the recent anthology – Eight Centuries of Serbian Poetry / Von A bis Z (2017) (translated and edited by Johann Lavundi). His poems have been translated into several languages. He has received various awards including Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk (2010), Milan Rakic (2010) and Zlatna struna (2011). He is a member of The Association of Serbian Writers. His published volumes include: Ponder Over Impressions (1996), In the East, in Serbia (2002), Upset are Holy Warriors (2006), The Lord is a Great Bard (2009), Wreath to the Creator (2009), The Barbarians of Tomorrow (2015). He lives and works in Eastern Serbia.


Afternoon in the Suburb

Crying cries and hoarse music

on the radio from a nearby house

Last move of a rooster

reflection of the ax

and sprinkled apron

and nothing happened again

 

The Municipality Celebration Day

At the railway station in Nis1

(or Astapovo2, the devil would have known it!)

Some whores persistently get in and kiss

my grandfather’s medal.

(Count Tolstoy went down to the people).

I tell them to get lost!

Not for the sake of guilty dick they are

and my grandfather, Srem’s3 youth, is no longer a communist.

While I’m taking him out of the hospital

some important people are watching me

and all remember.

Our priest in the first row alone as a saint

the second row is empty

and in the third local dignified politicians

and the main ladies having their twisted hair buns.

City Choir solemnly performs Mokranjac’s composition!

(Foot notes: 1 Nis is the bigest city in South Serbia / 2 Astapovo railway station is near the village of Astapovo, Russia / 3 The District of Srem is one of the seven administrative districts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia.)

 

Dogs Bark

Another letter from Serbia,

Spring 1999.

And this water has flowed!

Every effort is unfruitful

only to understand the sound.

And black birds fly down

biting concrete from the bridges

which are getting fewer.

Spring has reached our places

and from the sky cherry trees fall –

right in the river .

People massively in nature come out,

from Heaven gifts collect:

anathemata, misconceptions, henbanes and curses.

(They make plows, tame the beasts).

Drunk to madness they are all happy!

Neither furrier Marks nor avaricious Lenin

Would get better here.

But the son of a bitch?

And the son of a bitch …

Dogs bark to get us crazy –

today we are told by Yesenin again.

 

Before Departure

For a hundred years I feel on my shoulders

all the pain of our great grandfathers.

For us on the ravine in this part of the Balkans

years pass quietly and we get old quickly.

A whole century and more

my grandfather on the nettle near fence.

And now here before departure

On the yellow paper he erases the borders.

Instead of a will there is

a lore at least for two books.

Below the threshold

he says long goodbye to the snake

and asks her to take care of the house.

Sons for centuries serve the master,

what they have built have been demolished.

A great sacrifice is meant for them all

the grandchildren are already embedded inside.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scott Thomas Outlar

Image
Scott Thomas Outlar  (1980)  hosts the site 17Numa.com where links to his published poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, reviews, live events, and books can be found. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Scott was a recipient of the 2017 Setu Magazine Award for Excellence in the field of literature. His words have been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Dutch, Farsi, French, Italian, Kurdish, and Serbian. His radio podcast, Songs of Selah, airs weekly on 17Numa Radio. Homeward Bound   I sang to my Father on his deathbed. He had not spoken a word in days, cancer-ridden, organs collapsing, high on morphine, but I knew he could still hear me. I sang a song from a book I’d written years earlier during a particularly good time in my life, and this, being a particularly dark time, seemed like the right time to balance the dualistic energies. I don’t think I gave such considerations that much thought at the time; I was just sad and wanted to sing, wanted m
Read more

Ana Nikvul

Image
Ana Nikvul  is a Serbian poetess, playwright and writer. She has published four collections of poetry. Received many significant rewards. Her poems are published in many journals and included in anthologies. She lives and works in Mladenovac, Serbia, where teaches Serbian language. Apricot When you come back from lunch honey come to see apricot has blossomed my father planted it when I was a kid thunder halved it once but couldn’t do anything to it I guess the children’s little hands who steal from it while taking care of the branches arranged to be so when we are not here come to turn the sawdust on beneath it they say there will be frost tonight so I don’t have to wake up my dad from eternal sleep   After the exhibition when in the mirror I see you instead of myself then that’s not day from those you keep silent about when I cross my legs while I drink coffee and I read the story about sleepers who wake up from the sea then I must have fallen asleep in the last verse of unwritten poe
Read more

Miloje Demiresković Negotinski

Image
    Miloje Demiresković Negotinski , (1962 Belgrade), graphic designer, painter and writer. He completed applied art in Nis and a journalism school in Belgrade. He has exhibited his paintings ten times on his own and many times in group exhibitions. He has worked as a graphic designer and graphic editor for books and magazines for 35 years. He works as a writer at the same time. He has published a novel Iron Blood and many stories and poems in periodicals. He lives and works in Negotin. INTERVIEW WITH MILOJE DEMIRESKOVIĆ NEGOTINSKI BY THE EDITOR D. T. Miloje, you are a writer, poet, painter and visual and technical editor of  „ The Buktinja “  journal. Please tell us how you see today's literary, artistic and cultural Serbian scene. Is the "life" of culture in focus? What is the audience and in what number? M. D.   The position of culture today is the same as it has always been. A smaller number of the population needs a real culture and the rest are consumers of the subc
Read more