The Door Always Used to Swing Shut

What exactly happened to that door which always used to close “by itself” and is suddenly left wide open? Or is it not the door at all, but the wind, humidity, heat, cold? Something must have happened. Something in the world has shifted. For some people, the door just needs to be slammed shut, thus putting right a slight mishap of the kind which, for reasons known only to God, happens a hundred times a day. It is undoubtedly possible to overlook such things, to pass them by without seeing, without stopping, without surprise. Petr Hruška’s poem, however, is the unexpected opening of a door into a world we know intimately, and yet we stand before it in astonishment. In fact, nothing has changed here; everything has just become real. – Jan Balabán

The poem “The Door,” translated by Jonathan Bolton, was featured in B O D Y.

Published in 2002 by Host Publishers in the Czech Republic.
56 pages / 11,5 x 17,5 cm