Jan Škrob

Reality

2018 | Malvern

the left hand of darkness

 

change

of plans again i hop off the train

a clear night

twelve eleven

snowing again

change of either or

ten nine eight i scan

my card change change of seven

six yes a hotel room

cuba libre guitars the gospel

the morning star on the screen

yes five four login password

 

change of plans again

i hop off the train with a new

identity a new beat

a new ypakoë

 


 

 

a time to cast away stones

 

a workaholic in a glass elevator

swallows a pill for fatigue for anxiety for uncertainty

beyond the windows opening into infinity lies

a junkyard and two lakes

the man shrugs off his glimmering suit jacket

he tries to ignore the jolting ascent of the machine

a cable car named most splendid business in the world

there is a time to wake up a time to scream into the phone a time to cast away stones

and a time to gather stones together a time to embrace a time to disappear like a ghost

a time to know when to stop a time to delay time like a snap-off box cutter

you’re the clint eastwood of middle management

and the melody of your pocket watch has just cut off so you whip out

your credit card and become

one of the heroes of the uprising against mondays and tuesdays

and fatigue anxiety and uncertainty

 

your hands tremble

and you smoke opium

like in a movie

you’re not even playing in

 

you’re a pretty person on a warpath

you hardly get any sleep

you believe in chemtrails the red white ‘n’ blue pill

you make death threats against people around you but mainly against yourself

you abandon dogmata

you cut yourself

the lord god is trying to tell you something

the next day you wire money from one bank account to another

as if you have any idea what you’re doing

witch house blasting in your headphones energy drinks coursing through your veins

till the last minute hope or persecutory delusions

a time to smash through the glass a time to jump a time to freeze in mid-air

a time to fall in love with someone from the office

time as denial of time

tell me who you are

and i will tell you who you are

hang in there

 

your hands tremble

as you concentrate on the reset button

you’re not even playing

 

the elevator screeches to a halt

and your story takes on a new dimension

your headache is back you don’t know what you want

the next day you obliterate the establishment

with your platinum card a power drill a grin

all your things fit into a single

cardboard box

you swallow a pill for fatigue for anxiety

for certainty

someone from the office gives you a goodbye

kiss on the forehead

there is a time to go into hiding a time to set an example

a time to rewrite your identity a time to stay where you are

time as a gesture

you’re heading for the next level

and taking with you a portrait of a woman

who reminds you

of your mother

 

Translated by Tereza Novická