Pic and a Word #276 & PPAC: Public poetry

• Manja Maksimovič

I don’t like to combine challenges but the week suddenly doesn’t have enough days. Poetry can be public art too: here is one poem by me and some others by the street.

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Today there is so much going on. I have an online card tournament, there is the decisive basketball game Slovenia with Luka Dončić vs. Lithuania to determine who goes to the Olympic Games, Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar starts Stage 9 of Tour de France as the new race leader, it’s holiday in the USA, and these are just the good things.

Next, I had a big choice of challenges and picked two, seeing that they go together well: Patrick called poetry for his Pic and a Word challenge, and Marsha, who collects instances of public art, was kind enough to feature my last week’s post Architecture and ornaments in her PPAC challenge post this week. Water for Cee and wildflowers for Amanda will have to wait a little. (ADD-IT: Oh! Now I see! John calls on the water for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge too!)

So here we go. First, my poem. It is in the shape of a trimeric, which is a new form for me. Lines 2, 3 and 4 from the first stanza are repeated as the first lines of the next tree stanzas. I thought to include not one but two introductory thoughts. Have a look.

A Trimeric

                                                          Poetry: the best words in the best order. 
                                                         ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

                                                           With poetry I paint the pictures that hit.
                                                         ~"Freedom", Rage Against the Machine

Water, wildflowers, poetry...
What will it be, what will it be?
Thunderbolt, fire, the works? 
Trimeric, turmeric, pandemic? 

What will it be, what will it be
on this Sunday, 4th of July? 
We play nature’s game. Why?

Thunderbolt, fire, the works.
Some win, others not so much.
Anything to help us survive. 
 
Trimeric, turmeric, pandemic. 
Volcano, tornado, bravado.
Water, wildflowers, poetry.

I love reading walls everywhere I go. I’m especially glad if I encounter a verse or a whole poem, or something that to me sounds as a poem. Just like that, my day is made. Here is a selection of such over the years from my two countries. Today Italy comes first and Slovenia follows. This is another reason why I miss cities.

  • Poesia indeed. It means poetry. Not far from me.
  • In Tarquinia they like Vasco Rossi. Lyrics from his song Sally: “It’s all an equilibrium built on madness.”
  • In Massa Marittima they prefer Lucio Battisti (“Call this emotions if you wish”) and Gianna Nannini (“You are in my soul and here I’ll keep you forever”).
  • I don’t know if this is original or by somebody famous and kind of don’t wish to google it. Rome knows.
  • Also in Rome. The girl in the picture is Sabine and above the photo it says simply: “I’M LOOKING FOR MYSELF”. If you find her, reach her at Sabine@delafon.net. This was three years ago though.
  • A hop to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, my city. This Roman is perplexed at all these unknown words.
  • “Chemistry is images / physics is actions / the sum is the universe / dreaming of itself.” Das Ist Walter, Sarajevo restaurant in Ljubljana.
  • I took this photo and an hour later we met the poet by chance. This is Ljubljana for you. Quick translation: “PEACE. This bloody peace. Blossoms are falling from the sky, heavy white blossoms, instead of rain. Nobody has picked them from the sky that is the earth. Those who forget to charge the battery of their cell phones might die just like that, out of pure peace.”
  • Something like: “We shall untangle corridors into threads.” Slovenian language is such that in this case you know “we” means two females.
  • “Laughter steals you from death.” Ahh. Quite.
  • This is official, by a fountain in Ljubljana. Janez Menart was a favourite poet of my grandma Nada. “A day follows a day, years follow each other, and through it all water keeps splashing from the fountain in a happy arch. Beware, you who are passing by: life drains away just like water. As long as it’s time – reach in greedily and drink!”
  • But to be a Slovenian is not easy. Ivan Cankar was the greatest Slovenian writer. “The happiness is like the sun. When it is greatest, it sets.”
  • Nikola Tesla has Serbian, not Slovenian roots. Still he is celebrated in Metelkova City in Ljubljana next to the words: “Science and art are two eyes of the same face.” On the left: “Back home.”
  • If I hadn’t taken part in the street art tour, I’d never notice this double sign. Tabor is the official name of this street. The word “tabor” can mean camp or encampment. Somebody clever added another, very similar sign, asking: “Where is tabor?”
  • Let’s say goodbye to Ljubljana with this uplifting note: “Start believing in the world again.” I took this in 2017.
  • A quick stop in Maribor, Slovenian second city. “She Believed She Could So She Did.”
  • Official slogan of Piranske soline, Piran saltworks, as advertised in Maribor, on the other side of the country: “Salt is the sea that could not return to the sky.”
  • The official monument to Slovenia joining the European Union in 2004, in Piran. Verses by Slovenian poet Tone Pavček: “The sun travels from the East to the West, making people happy here and there. Let us be like the sun!” 
  • Hotel Piran is funny.
  • For the end, Piran has some words of comfort for all of us: “Every little thing is gonna be alright.”

In response to Patrick Jennings’ Pic and a Word Challenge #276: Poetry

and for Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) hosted by Marsha at Always Write

This day in my blogging history

  • 2015: Seeing someone reading a book you love is seeing a book recommending a person.
  • 2016: I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.
    —Mahatma Gandhi
  • 2019: Trieste Thursday Doors

31 thoughts on “Pic and a Word #276 & PPAC: Public poetry”

  5. Wow, what a selection! I love that you provide translations. The blue of the Tesla mural is gorgeous but I’m not going to pick out favourites as there are so many that appealed to me 🙂

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  6. I’m in total agreement with Sarah. You gave us a lot to love here, Manja. It expands the PPAC immensely to dip into poetry. I think this challenge is going to be mind boggling, just like your post. It is so much fun to see what others bring to the table. Different art and ideas from all over the world. Thanks for translating. I’d be like the Roman in the window scratching my head. 🙂 Thanks again for participating.

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      1. There weree poems on the wall in the railroad station that was recently expanded and renovated. Obviously I haven’t been there in quite awhile. But if I ever get down there, and they still exist, I’ll take some photos.

        Liked by 1 person

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