Collecting castles
a poem
Looking over the Vah river, I stand on a castle like a King. From here, I see why those pesky peasant problems are so bothersome. Janko can’t even farm his field while my state soldiers collect castles in foreign forests, like mushrooms after the rain. As I ruminate on these ruins, the wild Vah watches me atop the tower — waiting for me to wash away.
I have returned from a trip from Slovakia. I have many photos of this castle but, I must wait for the film to develop. So I will perhaps update this post if a good one reveals itself.
I was there for a book tour of sorts. I was able to deliver copies of Wasted Blood to many of my Czech and Slovak friends and colleagues. All travel arrangements went smoothly and it was a very pleasant trip.
It’s a bit difficult for me not to romanticize the country. All of my experiences there have been memorable and mostly pleasant. The friends I have there are all exceptionally generous and hospitable. It will not be long before I return.
These trips have a way of resetting my perspective on things. The question is, how much of it is lasting versus a post-trip honeymoon phase? We shall see.
In any case, I came back to a full post office box of letters and packages that I must now go through. This was very welcome, thank you. There are still physical copies available as well as digital copies over at wastedblood.com. I skipped a month for a cassette release with bitpunk.fm, but I’ll be looking to get back into that routine as well.
Glad you were able to give yourself a break. You've been working hard on all this poetry and tapes. But work should also be playful, or have some moments of rest. So neat you have duel citizenship and such an intimate connection to the culture.
I’m glad you had a great trip and came home with an awesome poem to boot! I would love to learn more about the country someday! Maybe you could do a full on article about your adventures and some of the people sometime! I always like to learn about people and how they live in other places!