I’VE BORN THIS WAY
I’ve born this way
Just for the poem
Which was wanted
Always

It was at that time
When the trees
Put a seed in our minds
That the world, maybe
Was much more extensive

I was snuggled down
Safe and warm
And the almond trees
Smelled all the night

And that poem of mine
Took roots
On me

When the trees
Which knew everything
Tempted me
With their twigs.

But
It’s a too long story
For today...

Pay a call on me
We’ll let the music speak
While drinking a good

Coffee

2/9/13 J.Š.

BREAKFAST WITH MY WIFE WINNER-FAME

At midday, just at 13:00 o’clock / In the month number 13 / I saw you on My Mountain / – sleeping among the flowers… //

Exactly at 25:00 o’clock / This year, perhaps on 32^nd March / So astonished, when I realized / – your name should be Tenderness… //

We woke up that day taken by surprise / The eighth day of the week was there / – the eighth day after Sunday… //

Can you understand, My Love / The changes in the calendar? //

– So strange, so nice, so ours… ///

TRANSFORMATION IN THE SUN

Somewhere in the ancient time / We were taken / To the feeling /
Of being Extra-Ordinary / That was because of the fear /
To show what was really real / The fear to show the real /
Estate of our deep insides / The fear to be hurt / The fear to die //

– Too young //

Being forsaken children / By the whole Universe /
Human beings without any hope / There is at least one more soul /
One more soul prepared to soar / Prepared to understand /
Prepared to hold you up / Every minute till the end //

– Till the end of time //

Last night we were drawing pictures / In our king-size bed /
Now music is everywhere / Travelling by Brno’s tram /
The rails are singing wonderful / Songs about open arms /
And we wake up / With these sounds / Full of embrace /
Full of the Sun / Full of the consciousness / We are still alive //

– And the Sun is shining in our lives! //

Somewhere in the ancient time / We were hidden to the feeling /
Of being Unique / That was like a fortress /
To protect us / Against the nightmare / Of the creepy Dark Night /
But now we became the Sun / No more tears, no sorrows are /
Around us / Now finally we are / Allowed to be /

– So Gorgeously-Ordinary… ///

(←) Audio recording performance with subtitle (↓) A short history of the poem:

• 9/2013 written for the Week of Jewish Culture in Brno, Czech Republic (the Czech version)
• From 2013 to 2016 the poem was recited around 100 times during cello recitals of Jan Škrdlík
           (the Czech version)
• 10/2013 published in revue Kachol Velavan in Brno, Czech Republic (the Czech version)
• 2014 published in the Spanish university magazine Digilec
            (ISSN 2386-6691) in Spanish and Czech version
• 5/2015 Marjolein de Roos translated the poem to Dutch
• 10/2015 Hayden Wayne (USA) wrote a melodrama Sanz Briz based on the text of the poem
           (the English version)
• 8/2016 Omar Rojas (Mexico) wrote the second melodramaSanz Briz based on the text of the poem
           (the Spanish version)
• 11/2016/XI Richar Wilson performed the poem in Shire Hall, Hereford, UK (the English version)
• 2/2017 the Brno Chamber Soloists recorded the melodrama Sanz Briz by Omar Rojas

The full text of the poem in English, Spanish and Czech

9. dubna 2014 v areálu bývalé Mosilany Brno, Křenová 19 byla nahrána skladba TITANIC

Kapela ЯR styl, tj.:
Jiří Netík – klávesy
Antonín Stříž – bicí
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello

TITANIC je programní skladba

Děj: jakýsi zvláštní klid dýchá z hlubin / spodní části lodi to již ví a voda se hrne do podpalubí / na palubě katastrofa a smrt / radisté zkouší S.O.S – save our souls, ale marně / hlubiny se chystají obejmout poutníky / plechy skřípají tlakem vody / klesání / zde už jsme hodně hluboko / až u dna / až v lůně nás samých… / sbohem… /

Luigi Boccherini – Koncert pro violoncello a orchestr č. 9 B dur, G 482 v Besedním domě v Brně 14. května 2013

Jan Škrdlík – violoncello
Brněnští komorní sólisté
(umělecký vedoucí: Pavel Fajtl; housle: Pavel Fajtl, Leoš Zavadilík, David Danel, Karel Hejl, Jan Vašta, Marek Blaha; violy: Otakar Salajka a Miroslav Kovář; violoncello: Anežka Jungová; kontrabas: Jiří Šícha)

LIVE

Poems in English ↓

Drawings ↓

An essay in verses ↓

2. Josef Mysliveček Koncert C dur, Tempo di menuetto 5:30
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Brno Chamber Soloists
bývalý Premonstrátský klášter, Brno, 11.1.2004, studio

3. Leoš Janáček Pohádka pro violoncello a klavír, Con moto 3:55
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Renata Ardaševová – piano
Český rozhlas, Ostrava, 28.9.1998, studio

4. J. Christian Bach Konzert c-moll, Allegro ma molto energico 4:06
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Brno Chamber Soloists
Konvent Řádu milosrdných bratří, Brno, 30.7.2004, studio

5. Jiří Matys Hudba pro violoncello solo II., Volně 1:50
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello
Konzervatoř a ladičská škola J.Deyla, Praha, 15.11.2005, live

6. Bohuslav Martinů 3. sonáta, Poco andante Moderato 7:37
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Renata Ardaševová – piano
Český rozhlas, Ostrava, 24.4.1998, studio

7. Claude Debussy Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, Final 4:05
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Petra Besa Pospíšilová – piano
Besední dům, Brno, 28.3.2006, live

8. Miloš Štědroň Banalissimo 3:41
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Brno Chamber Soloists
bývalý Premonstrátský klášter, Brno, 14.12.2003, studio

9. Olivier Messiaen Louange a l’Éternité de Jésus 8:20
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Šárka Besperátová – piano
Palacio de congresos, Zaragoza, Spain, 26.11.2003, live

10. Hayden Wayne Dances for Cello and Piano
Reggae Animato 6:13
Moderato 8:39
Vivace 9:00
Jan Škrdlík – violoncello, Petra Besa Pospíšilová – piano
Konvent Milosrdných bratří, Brno, 2. a 3.12.2004

...a vůbec něco o prapodivném uměleckém slohu ↓
co jsem si jednou jen tak vymyslel ☺ ↓

...ostatně tady vpravo je v tomto slohu báseň ☺ ☮ →

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN, DAMN IT?

A group of chosen ones / (I don’t known any more / Which sect they were from) /
Called on me one day, / And showed me how / To get to hell. /
“It’s guaranteed!” / Was what they said / And in the opposite case /
They threatened with heaven... //

•

I was so tired / Of that “holly” trade / That I decided / Quite exceptionally /
...Not to obey / But... / Still and all / Heaven didn’t come... /
I get stuck somewhere / Between the sixth and seventh sphere /
Where the deer / Said good night / From daybreak till the stars came out. //

//

Now meanwhile I play / This “goodnight game” / Between the spheres /
   At a great distance from my site / You expand your hair / (Both volume and its length) /   
Your hair, net of aerials / To catch /
Your boyfriends with big magnets / Instead of their hearts. //

•

It’s the secret of the low and high tide / Which few know about: /
When your boyfriends / Engage North pole magnets /
They arrive like waves / And the ocean continues to rise. /
   Then they engage South pole again / Sailing away / Forgetting the eternal carousel /   
Forgetting about journey to your hair / And about going back /
The circulation / Whose affect / Impacts me so much / Here, where I am /
– Close to the sixth sphere. / Nonetheless... /
Tell me: / How could I be angry / When I know I will die /
In a few hours? //

//

What? / Oh, didn’t I tell you? /
Yeah! / Today exactly at 2 p.m., I will die. / I’ve found it out by my own. /
It seems to me very logical. / Although... /
Actually, it’s more intuition and belief / Then deduction, of course. /
Simply, suddenly I know: / Today exactly at 2 p.m. /
I will die. //

//

“So what?”, / I am ruminating on, / “I will die in 3 hours /
And I don’t think it would be meaningful / To spend my last 3 hours being cross!” /
Here, then, I conclude: / “Firstly, / I'll keep playing the ‘goodnight game’ with the deer, /
Secondly, / I will write a poem. /
Well, it will not be the poem for this world, / But for the parallel one; /
I am really not very sure / Our world could receive it / Although... / The truth is: /
You are reading this poem just now / So maybe it’s possible after all...” //

•

However, I have several minutes to the end. / Let’s hurry up! /
A few words remain to be written / About the hair: /
It’s so thick / That you can use it as a pillow / Which protects you against gusts. /
   How many times has it saved your life? / It’s dark / And can cover you / During the night. /   
How many times has it saved you being on the run? /
But a worse moment is that / After any rain / It’s like the soaking fleece /
So heavy / That you can't move your arms or legs / And your nape can be easily broken. /
The thing is that “getting wet” is very dangerous / And you have a neck ache, / a headache /
– And a heart ache too. /
I am so sorry about that / Now, /
Exactly at 2 p.m.. //

//

It’s exactly 2 p.m.. / How will I die? / I have no idea. /
I might die due to overheating of the head /
Or as a consequence of sadness / Or I might die roaring with laughter... / But... /
2 p.m. has passed / And me still alive. /
So what does it mean, damn it? //

•

I stare helplessly / At the sunset. / Well, in fact, the sun is not ‘setting’ at all. /
The truth of the matter is that: /
We ourselves have been turning away from sun light / Five hundred million times. /
We haven’t yet learned anything from our past! /
The deer is coming / To kiss me again / On my face /
And behind the horizon / The blood red globe /
Is making mock //

– Glowing with heat. ///

Jan Škrdlík 8/8/2013