Dina Franin
Republike Austrije 21
10000 Zagreb (CROATIA)
(+385 1) 3772 233


dinafranin@yahoo.com




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[Dina Franin - Maglajliĉ]

Poetess / Pjesnikinja

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to my father
SLAVONIJA OF MY YOUTH

Eight hours driving by train
and he is waiting for me one month a year,
the only month a year during school holidays.

The only time with you.
I am observing corn fields from inside your Mercedes,
Drava river, Vukovar, Daruvar, Djakovo - cathedral,
lake near Orahovica and Osijek the heart of Slavonija.

And my childish heart beats with restrain
one month a year,
the only month a year
observing you to tell who you are,
and why you are so far
and why you left us
and seeks for an answer in vain.
And which way to go?
Did she tell the truth when she didn't love you?
And we are playing cards and swimming,
mosquitos are biting in the evening
and flocking together around lamp posts
instead of buterflies.

We are going for a walk
you are making a show of me
but I don't know who you are
and you say you will die before I come of age.

And I will never know who you were.

And I understand and don't understand

and it hurts me and doesn't hurt me

and I love you and don't love you
and I don't know!




Chingi-lingi-charda in the evening,
Cocta, chevapchichi
Copacabana by day
and swimming pools in Borovo,
watermelon ice-cream in Vukovar.
Small alike houses in the villages, warm, gentle.
And geese and mongrels.
Housemaid,
and Irish setter,
turtle-dove cooing in the morning,
hydrangea bushes beside the well in the courtyard.
Your friends lickspittles who are waiting. Voltures!
Your women, hussies,
your charm and one-day beard and too much sweat
and social position.
Grandma, my grandma being bored.
Hens from the courtyard, near to my heart
pecking golden pendants and eating chocolate
and sleeping with one oye open
gentle feathery creatures for my play
one month a year until the nineth of March 1975.
Land in Dalj and white painted house,
vineyards and orchards - all yours, nothing mine!
And all strange, and mine
but belonging to someone else.
Your Kent cigarettes with white filter
and "Old spice" perfume.

And that Sunday at one o'clock in the morning
when the news came
that there is no Slavonija for me any more.

And sympathies of the people I don't like
and they don't like me.

Dry eye and emptiness until the end of my days,
everlasting departure with no words.



Slavonija: the region in north-eastern part of Croatia
Vukovar, Daruvar, Djakovo, Orahovica, Osijek, Borovo, Dalj: the Slavonian villages
Chingi-lingi-charda: the famous restaurant with the national specialties
Cocta: the non-intoxicant drink made of dog-rose
Chevapchichi: the famous national specialty, grilled grounded meat
Copacabana: the popular name of the beach on the Drava river in Osijek



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