Ranko Pavlović

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