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Danika Dinsmore

Storyteller / Activist

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Karlstejn

March 1, 2009 by openchannel 6 Comments

Thinking about hanging out in Plsen with Bernie and Phil made me a bit nostalgic. It was 9 years ago that I lived in Prague. Karlstejn is one of my favourite pieces I wrote while there.

Karlstejn
3.8.00

it was the injured grasshopper that finally
caught my attention, flanked by a wasp,
in the foot path, too late for you, buddy,
i said, too late. that and the 72 meter deep
castle well. a man poured a cupful of

dobra voda
down the shaft and we all waited,
watched as it finally hit the surface of the water,
sparkled for a good 2 minutes. below castle,
man fishing from canoe on the river. i’m lazy
i don’t take photographs. drunk, too. one

pivo
and i don’t know where i am. 40 minutes
early for the train so i walk around the quiet
block that smells of yesterday’s garbage
guarded by colorful flowers. study the leaves. i

could be anywhere
. tiger-cat in field stalks
butterflies until it sees me, i wave and it makes
off gazellish like never to be seen again. i
caught its green eyes. thought we made a
connection. i spoke. perhaps it didn’t recognize
my language. back to the train station i long for
a real companion. marigold, rose, you bright
nameless purple thing – yes, don’t you mock
my loneliness. we’re all pitiful historians.
it’s not true – what they told us at the castle.
we’ve always been here at this tourist attraction.
it was built for us. we can only walk away.
i walk away. man on the corner keeps
locked-up cockatiels. they can’t scatter
when he comes. every other thing
is a holy relic. and i am the suffering christ.

~ ~ ~

hop on the train.

Filed Under: Archived Blog, monday poetry thang, poetry, truth and beauty Tagged With: czech republic, karlstejn, monday poetry train, poetry

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fledgling Poet says

    March 2, 2009 at 4:33 am

    Stunning imagery…your rambling thoughts create a beautiful vision!

    yeah, *rambling* about sums it up… haha

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  2. julia says

    March 2, 2009 at 6:53 am

    I really, really enjoyed this! Especially:

    ‘early for the train so i walk around the quiet
    block that smells of yesterday’s garbage
    guarded by colorful flowers.’

    What a dizzying array of impressions packed into this poem.

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  3. Sweet Talking Guy.. says

    March 2, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Cool post, could do with a pivo now! Love that word gazellish!

    thanks, STG!

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  4. angie says

    March 3, 2009 at 6:43 am

    this really captures that strangeness, that fusion of familiarity and unknown…

    love this: “we can only walk away./i walk away”

    it’s always like that when I travel… one of the things I love about it…figuring out how it’s all connected, while living in the surprise of it…

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  5. Brad says

    March 5, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    I see the pull of nature and you’re there
    among the crawling dead. I wonder where you were before the horror dragged you from your head. Why does a man (and how, pray tell) pour a cup of mountain peak into a well unless of course it’s water talking market speak? Oh bugger this, I cannot walk and chew on this activity. I need to lose the lot of you and suffer in my own good space.

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  6. openchannel says

    March 5, 2009 at 11:04 pm

    Hi Brad!

    lol!

    “dobra voda” means “good water” in Czech. It was a brand of water people drank there, like Evian or Aquafina.

    i’ve never seen “horror” in this piece before. Melancholy, yes, but not horror.

    I had gone to Karlsjn to see the castle, but found it too touristy for my tastes… I had a beer and began to wander around the town buzzed (I’m a lightweight).

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