Let me draw the middle for you There's my family Which has a captured appearance Trapped they live in mold walls Peering out the window Going through a maze of silence Filled with particle energy Eating flour for growth I'll try to draw the middle for you Where my family has wings They can fly Dead bodies symbolize Eyes falling out of the face So they travel through the sleeves To the destination of the dust at the corner of the walls I want to show you the middle There's my family Hidden in the wall of pain Sharp views And strong emotions Who can swim in a sea of tears
In the middle between
Bojan Đurđević
3 Questions for Bojan
What was your process for creating this work?
To make it simple: it is an inspiration, a single moment when I took my pen, pencil, or keyboard. Words and verses have been put on paper or screen. It is like a transfer of my thought and emotions into words. So, my poems are finished immediately. I am not the kind of poet who deals a long time with a poem. I can not work longer on them or re-write, change words. It is not my way because poetry is a moment, emotion, word game and thought. It is like a biological need – when you are hungry, you need to eat. When I have an inspiration, I need to write. It is the best. I wrote in my mother tongue, Croatian, and my poems do not have rhyme which makes it easier for translations.
What is the significance of the form/genre you chose for this work?
Poetry is a part of me. It has had a significant impact on my life. I enjoy reading, listen and write poetry. Fortunately, it is a hobby so I enjoy poetry daily. My poems have been related to various topics and themes including everyday, ordinary situation, short biographies of imagined persons, real and/or ideal love, then political & social & religious topics (I put together because they are part of my worldviews and ideology). If I need to connect poetry and myth, I will use symbols =. For me, poetry is re-written myths in our human and understandable language.
What is the significance of this work to you?
As I said before, poetry is an art and inspiration for me. It is not a competition like sports or business. My opinion are that rankings in poetry is not necessary. The critical reason is emotions. The first element is our mood when we listen, read or re-read a poem. But, there is also an emotion made by the poem. These emotions could be the same, similar or different. And this is the beauty of art and poetry. Every reading is a new experience and feeling. So, if I need to rank it, I cannot do it. I hope that your readers will read my poems, listen and re-read them. Maybe then they will understand a voyage of poems and emotions. Last but not least, I am honored to participate in a journal and these poems, translated by my brother Goran, are my first works in English. I am looking forward to future cooperation.
Bojan Đurđević (Durdevic) was born on the 14th of July 1991 in Požega, Croatia. He finished vocational high school (food technician) and studied in Požega and Karlovac. He has been living in Zagreb since 2017. As a poet, he prepared and published two books in Croatian: The Yellow Sky and Blue Sun, Something is wrong. Also, he has published poems in portals, social networks and journals. His hobbies are reading, walking, sport and popular culture, but he is an active supporter of FC Liverpool.