Ivana Bodrožić

hrvaščina

Damir Šodan

angleščina

Koliba

Saznala sam to iz treće ruke
o Kolibi i Kolibinoj ženi
koji je prodao 20 milijuna primjeraka
svoje knjige u kojoj je Bog duhovita crnkinja
Isus šlampavac arapskih crta lica
a Duh Sveti azijatkinja

Slavan i bogat pisac
koji je prije čistio WC-e
primao i slao pošiljke
bio noćni čuvar

Uglavnom,
njegova žena ima čudnu kosu,
iako, zapravo, ima potpuno normalnu kosu,
vjerojatno se radi o tome
da svatko od nas po nečemu želi
biti poseban, pa tako i Kolibina žena,
a ne samo po tome kako mu je
oprostila preljub,
o čemu on javno govori
kao jednom od dokaza božje ljubavi.

I za tu kosu u Americi ona ne može pronaći
ručnik odgovarajuće veličine,
(kad ga onako treba smotati u turban)
kakav je našla u Hrvatskoj
i odmah kupila deset komada koje
sad mora nekako dostaviti u Oregon

To znači ekstra kofer, a već ima puno, previše stvari

A Koliba putuje dalje, prvo u London
pa u Nizozemsku, pa nazad u London
pa tek onda preko ocena
jer on je velik i slavan pisac
svuda ide, propovjeda i potpisuje knjige

Nagne se prema svojoj ženi, njenoj neobičnoj kosi
i kaže nešto poput:
Draga, ništa se ti ne brini
ja ću sve srediti,
uzet ću te hrvatske ručnike prave veličine
odletjeti s njima u Veliku Britaniju
ostaviti ih u sefu hotela
a onda na povratku pokupiti
i donijeti
u Ameriku
tebi

Mi se svi smijemo, cerimo, Koliba je jeftin
i njegov bog je pravi američki prozivod
sve ljubi
i nikog ne kažnjava
dolazi u raznim bojama
a njegov život
sa seksulanim zlostavljanjem u djetinjstvu
jebeno upakovana priča

Kad smo potrošili smijeh
na licu ostaju grimase
djelić sekunde izbjegavamo međusobne poglede
jer njegova žena
ima muža
koji nosi ručnike
za običnu kosu
preko čitavog svijeta
jer vjeruje da je neobična
toliko žarko
kao što se vjeruje u boga
i nitko mu neće dokazati suprotno

Vjera je ljubav,
a ljubav je bog
tako je jefitno,
a tako nedostižno.

Avdio produkcija: Haus für Poesie, 2021

Shack

I heard it from someone else,
about Shack and Shack’s wife –
about him selling 20 million copies
of his book wherein God is a witty black woman,
Jesus a gimp with a Semitic face,
and the Holy Spirit an Asian woman

A famous and wealthy writer
who once cleaned toilets
received and dispatched parcels
worked as a night watchman

Anyway,
his wife has strange hair,
although her hair is in fact totally normal,
it’s probably that each and every one of us
wants to feel somewhat special
and so does Shack’s wife,
never mind how on top of everything
she forgave him for his adultery
which he talks about publicly
as one of the proofs of God’s love.

She couldn’t find a towel big enough
for that hair of hers in America
(when she wants to wrap it in a turban)
but she did find one in Croatia
so she bought ten of them right away
that now need to be shipped somehow to Oregon

That means that she needs an extra suitcase and she already has many, way too many things

Shack will travel further, first to London,
then to the Netherlands, then back to London
and then finally back home overseas
for he is a great and famous writer
who goes everywhere, preaching and signing books

Then he leans over to his wife and her extraordinary hair
and says something like:
Darling, don’t you worry about a thing,
I’ll take care of everything,
I will pick up those right-sized Croatian towels
fly with them to the UK
and deposit them in the hotel safe
so I can collect them on my way back
and bring them
to America
to you

We all laugh, grinning, for Shack is cheap
and his God is a real American product
He loves everybody
punishes no one
and comes in various colours
and his life
including the childhood sexual abuse
is one hell of a tale

When we exhausted our laughter
our faces still in silent grimaces
for a split second we avoided each other’s gazes
because his wife
has a husband
who carries towels
for her ordinary hair
across the world
because he believes this is something quite extraordinary
so passionately
as he believes in God
and no one can convince him otherwise

Faith is Love
Love is God
It’s so cheap
yet so unattainable.

Translated by Damir Šodan