"So
suddenly, who could have seen it coming"
"stress and smoking, I kept telling
him"
"not bad, thanks, and you"
"these flowers need to be
unwrapped"
"his brother's heart gave
out too, it runs in the family"
"I'd never know you in
that beard"
"he was asking for it,
always mixed up in something"
"that new guy was going to
make a speech, I don't see him"
"Kazek's in Warsaw,
Tadek's gone abroad"
"you were smart, you
brought the only umbrella"
"so what if he was more
talented than them" |
Some details in this poem suggest the
setting of this poem to be Kraków's oldest cemetery, Cmentarz Rakowicki (picture above),
where some of Poland's major artists and politicians are buried. This is why the casual
conversations in the back rows of the funeral crowd contrast with the solemnity of the
place as well as of the occasion.
|
"no, it's a walk-through room, Barbara
won't take it"
"of course he was right,
but that's no excuse"
"with bodywork and paint,
just guess how much" |
At this point, the friends of the deceased
are discussing the future assignment of the deceased's room in a shared apartment - one of
the more common nightmares of living under communism, the many shortages of which included
that of housing.
|
"two egg yolks and a tablespoon of
sugar"
"none of his business,
what was in it for him"
"only in blue and just
small sizes"
"five times and never any answer"
"all right, so I could
have, but you could have too"
"good thing that at least
she still has a job"
"don't know, relatives, I
guess" |
A traditional cure for the sore throat.
|
"that priest looks just like
Belmondo"
"I've never been in this
part of the grounds"
"I dreamed about him last
week, I had a feeling"
"his daughter's not bad
looking"
"the way of all flesh"
"give my best to the widow, I've got to
run" |
Jean-Paul Belmondo, actor, 1960's/70's male
sex symbol of the French cinema.
|
"it
all sounded so much more solemn in Latin"
"what's gone is gone"
"good-bye"
"I could sure use a drink"
"give me a call"
"which bus goes
downtown"
"I'm going this way"
"we re not"
Kraków, 1986 |
A reference to the switch, in Roman Catholic
liturgy from Latin to vernacular languages; a source of similarly cliche remarks for years
to come.
|
