Poems by Pavla Melková Translated by Joshua Mensch

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[the last leaf]

the last leaf

at the tip of a branch

wants to be

a bird

a cloud

an asteroid

will be
– earth

but remains

desire’s black star
– in the eyes

[poslední list]

poslední list

na hrotu větve

chce být

ptákem

mračnem

planetkou

bude
– zemí

zůstane ale

černou hvězdou touhy
– na sítnici

[“everything is past”]

“everything is past”

wind

futilely

combs branches

and noses 

through fallen leaves

shutters

refuse to close properly

and the bodies 

of the last mushrooms

are virgin white

despite the prewinter

the past

spiraled in

to annual rings

rounded

by a whirl

from the deepest part 

of an old woman’s eyes

[„všechno je minulost“]

„všechno je minulost“

vítr

marně

pročesává větve

a slídí

ve spadaném listí

okenice

odmítají dovření

a těla 

posledních hříbků

jsou panensky bílá

navzdory předzimí

minulost 

vtočená

do letokruhů

vykroužená

vírem

ze dna očí

staré ženy

[a wing’s hiss]

a wing’s hiss

a magpie’s chatter

scraping of falling leaves

so close

that sound 

becomes matter

and unravels

the body’s

last 

protective layer

[svist křídla]

svist křídla

křiknutí straky

škrábání pádu listu

tak blízko

že zvuk

se stává hmotou

a párá

poslední

ochrannou vrstvu

těla

[menhir]

find in oneself

a menhir

or at least

– an ordinary stone

a fixed point

(even in motion)

a point of place

(where all roads vanish)

a point of time

(now – always)

a point of meaning

(one – in generality)

like a horse

in the heaviness of staying

like a bird

numb in flight

like a wolf

in memory of wildness

[menhir]

najít v sobě

menhir

nebo alespoň
– obyčejný kámen

bod setrvání

(i v pohybu)

bod místa

(úběžník všech cest)

bod času

(teď – stále)

bod významu

(jeden – veškerý)

jako kůň

v tíze setrvání

jako pták

strnulý v letu

jako vlk
v paměti divokosti

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Pavla Melková is a practicing architect, visual artist and writer who regularly lectures on art and architecture. Her widely-recognized architecture is visible throughout the Czech Republic, where she has won numerous awards, including Architect of the Year (2014), the Prague Mayor’s Prize (2012), and the National Prize for Architecture (2012). She has published seven books on architecture, including most recently The Humanistic Role of Architecture (2016) and The Architecture of Reciprocity (2020), and is a regular contributor to professional architecture journals, anthologies, and collaborative works. She is the author of several volumes of poetry, including The Edges of the Day (2017) and Inner Time (2019), and the forthcoming collection The Gravitational Field of the Inexpressible (2022), in which these poems appear. In 2012, she founded the Office for Public Space at the Institute for Planning and Development of the City of Prague (IPR), which she headed until 2017. She currently serves as deputy chair of the IPR Council and is a partner at the architecture firm MCA atelier, which she co-founded. She teaches at the Czech Technical University School of Architecture. 

Joshua Mensch is a poet and translator living in the Czech Republic. He is the author of Because: A Lyric Memoir (Norton, 2018) and an editor at B O D Y. 

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17 May 2022