Ranko Pavlović (1943) is a Serbian writer, poet and playwright. He has published 18 poetry books, 17 short stories books, 5 novels, 2 collections of essays, a book of literary criticism and 10 radio dramas for adults, and more than 20 books for children. Represented in textbooks, readings and many anthologies. His poems and short stories have been translated into Italian, Polish, Hungarian, English, Romanian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Russian and other languages. Pavlović has been rewarded many times for his work, the most recent with Ivo Andrić Academy Award for lifetime achievement. He lives and works in Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska.
At The Reception
We hang ourselves on coat racks
and our coats go to the guest room
to the feast we were invited
by the government.
The sleeves of our coats toast
with crystal glasses,
half filled with some pale rheum
and hopelessness.
And there, where are supposed to be our heads,
the emptiness above the collar nod.
When they spill enough the diluted smiles
the empty coats return to the cloak room
and take those ones
that should be our bodies
from the coat racks,
wave with the empty sleeves,
nod with the empty collars
and go into the night they belong to.
Only when the stars give us back
the crumbs of life and our numb bodies
our coats, far from the lights of festive guest room,
become what they really are:
useless cloths,
needed only to cover the shame
and protect us from cold
that sneaks into our
already frozen hearts.
Translated by Danijela Trajković
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