Michal Lapinski Studio

Visiting places of disappearance

makes you feel emptied

of the invisible presence

and of possible goodbyes

that could echo

that could resound

that would not fall

into the well of silence

visiting places of goneness

grabs you by the throat

and squeezes the air

out of your lungs

your breath solidifies

into an icy surface

under which you can see

frozen faces

of the dead

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The song of Golden Praha

“Co se stalo se Zlatou Prahou

Prý je pořád tady

Ta celá nádhera

Ty všechny uličky, věžičky

A Karlův Most”

What happened to Zlata Praha?

The guide says it is still there

with all its unsurpassed medieval beauty

with all these towers, little streets

and the figures on the Karlûv Bridge.

Why can't I see it?

I thought I held the rights

and that Praha in all its glory

and its little cosy charm

belonged to me

an spite of the long years

of separation...

An unending cavalcade of grey tourists is passing

along the figures of kings and saints

who extend their hands

for alms and tips

they don't get many

everyone is busy

taking photos of themselves.

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Gold is produced though

in hundreds of pizza restaurants

and in the little shops selling the Chinese junk

and the Russian army caps.

​

Renaissance of unmitigated greed

produces a stream of coins and notes

Flowing into underground vaults

of the foreign banks.

​

Tourist with their eyes glowing

rush me by, singing hallelujah

and I am left on a cobbled, slippery pavement

holding a souvenir of a headless puppet.

​

Venice, Covid

the empty chambers of my heart 

are filled with confetti

when blood turns into paper

the heart breaks into tiny bits

in the suspension of silence

you can hear the eerie rustling

those are masks of the Venetian carnival

now wrapped in crepe

they get soaked in sorrow

and flow with the swill to the canals

which cannot contain the painful flow 

and they burst

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The lyrebird

the lyrebird has fallen down

with flapping wings, from starry sky

how could she fly 

at all

no cry, no tears shed, no way

down to the earth

now

the crowd had come before

to watch the rise, to see the fall

to clap and cheer

to mock

to have their way

what they do now

they clap and cheer, they mock

or fall apart

far down

much farther than they ever dreamt

their fall

her fall

where is she now

back there, on stage

out of the hole

shakes off the ashes, makes sure

sings out her song

aloud

whose song it is 

whose song it was

she seems to know

so well

as we all do

we know for sure

we always did

how else

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