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| Goran Simic. (Bruce Bottomley Photo) |
Bosnian-born poet, dramatist and short fiction writer Goran Simic came to HÂþ» University last week to read from recent works, including this poem, "A Thick Red Line" from the collection Immigrant Blues.Ìý
One of the most prominent writers of the former Yugoslavia, Mr. Simic was trapped in the siege of Sarajevo. In 1995, he and his family were able to settle in Canada as the result of a Freedom to Write Award from PEN. Immigrant Blues explores the personal and the public devastations of war, especially its effects on the emotions, thoughts and memories of exiled survivors. It's his second full-length volume of poems in English, and the first to be published in Canada.
Mr. Simic's reading at the Fireside Lounge in the McCain Building was made possible by the Rural Research Centre at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, with funding support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the League of Canadian Poets, and Canada Council
A THICK RED LINE
A lamb escaped from me
and I sent the wolf to bring it back.
such lambs loiter about the forest,
and leave droppings where I like to watch the valley.
I am afraid something might happen to the wolf.
There are many fugitive lambs
very few such faithful wolves.
Years pass before you train them
not to look you in the eyes
but at your hands.
I've read in an encyclopedia
how many people were killed in Auschwitz.
Like lambs.
Later I read a book about the same camp
but 308 victims were missing from the list.
Between those two books
my wolf treads in the deep snow
and draws a thick red line with his tail,
contentedly sniffing the air.
The spring is coming again
when the snow melts as fast as memory
and lambs feel the urge to escape.
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