Pic and a Word #215: Spots and points

• Manja Maksimovič

Yesterday a poem happened and I made a point of writing it down. To it I add a gallery of pointy sights from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, my city of origin.

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A weird thing happened yesterday.

First it was the drop of blood that I describe in the poem. You see, I had to write it since I had just read a wonderful poem by Romana Iorga and, boy, did her spark fly directly into my keyboard. I love it when this happens. Blogging brings such rewards.

Here is my poem and this is how it went:

A Spot of Blood

I spot a spot of blood.
It is on the floor next to our furnace,
right where I just got dressed after the shower.

I think:
nothing hurts.

My child-bearing years are over,
or are they?

My body is in limbo,
it doesn’t know which way to go.

But no more bleeding.
At least I thought it was over.

That spot is there though,
waiting to be investigated.
Knowing I will.

But he had a shower too, just earlier.
What if it was him?
Which is even scarier.

Or the dog?

I spot another spot.
On the way from the bathroom.
This is serious.

I go to look in the mirror.
My face is slightly panicky
but intact.

Had to be him then.
Gloomy thoughts.

I tear a single white sheet
off the toilet paper roll

and wipe.

Immediately I see that something is not right.
Instead of the hue I learned to expect
there is a purple tinge.

Yes, I have just put my last night’s wine glass away.
Why do you ask?
It seemed empty to me…

And so I danced.

As you can see, a happy end. The weird thing happened after I put it on Facebook.

I posted it in English just how I wrote it. First an Italian friend, who speaks only Italian, puts a laugh to it. Then my father writes to ask me if I wrote it since one comma is wrong. You see, I am a bit of a comma queen (hihi) and usually have them right – but in Slovenian, not in English. It’s when he asks me why I wrote it like a man that I really start to pay attention and confirm it with other Slovenian friends.

It’s true: Facebook decided all on its own to translate my poem into Slovenian for Slovenian users, and probably into Italian for Italian users, and possibly into your language, whichever that might be, only for the Americans and Brits and Australians it was left in English.

The translation was awful, as you can guess. And the worst part was that the process was irreversible. My Slovenian friends were not able to see the poem in English as I had written it at all (which is usually the case if you click to see the original). Only then I found the option “turn off translations” in the settings.

This is what the future brings then. Your words will be stolen from you at the source and turned into robotic nonsense.

With this point I turn your attention to various pointy things in Ljubljana, my city, until it wasn’t. As I promised Flavia, who loved it so much during her first visit last year, I have some things to add to her collection of hangings on the wall. A sausage, for example, but there is more. Welcome!

But the pointiest thing in Ljubljana – the dragon’s tail – is missing on purpose. Ljubljana Dragons will get their own post.

  • It doesn’t get more Slovenian than this: At Janez’. Janez is the most common male name in the country. In national costume and all.
  • Here is it, “kranjska klobasa”, Carniolan sausage, the national treasure.
  • Other, Bosnian meat dishes in “Das Ist Walter”, a Bosnian restaurant in Ljubljana. (Why such name? Long story from the times of German occupation.)
  • A pointy bicycle structure.
  • I know Flavia captured this too. Not quite sure what it is, but it’s pointy.
  • “Manifestants” by Drago Tršar outside the Museum of Modern Art. Very pointy.
  • Monument to writer Peter Božič, created by Mirsad Begić. His nose was quite pointy.
  • Seems like Julius Caesar, but it’s just a random citizen of Ljubljana in Roman times when it was called Emona.
  • Ilirija column in French Revolution Square by Jože Plečnik recalls Napoleon’s Illyrian Provinces (1809–13) with Ljubljana as its capital, when Slovenian was taught in school for the first time.
  • Just a random pointy fellow.
  • He looks innocent but he will stab you if you’re a bird and try to sit.
  • This one is above a door. In quite a struggle, it seems. Do you see the horseshoe above?
  • Pointy fence.
  • I’m a bit ashamed but I cannot tell you what this is. Joyful and pointy, in any case.
  • I know who did this though. I don’t like it. Why no head?
  • Post Office with pointy architecture at Christmas.
  • At Christmas Ljubljana goes a bit light crazy. On the left: the Muse of the greatest Slovenian poet France Prešeren. Above: the egg about to be fertilised (really).
  • The pink Franciscan church and the pointy vase.
  • At every full hour these two appear above the Puppet Theatre: Martin Krpan from the famous story with his mare.
  • Pointy if rather small Zois Pyramid.
  • The first and only mosque in Ljubljana, still under construction. I was happy to see it. Many don’t share this sentiment.
  • The Kamnik-Savinja Alps from my parents’ house. I miss this pointy snowy view.
  • This residential building looks like a ski jumping hill.
  • “Pingvin” kindergarten, colourful and pointy.

In response to Patrick Jennings’ Pic and a Word Challenge #215: Point

23 thoughts on “Pic and a Word #215: Spots and points”

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  8. I don’t hit the translate button unless I can’t read a lick of it, (slovenian for one!) or feel I’m missing something (what is this word? this word seems crucial…) Lost in translation is real and true. One time, The Mister wrote me a letter in English, translated it to French with Google, and sent it. It was terrible, and at times, alarming! LOL

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