in that dream I was lost in anger. a robot for dreaming someone else’s dreams. about petroleum brilliants. gold bricks. yachts on private seas.
and in the distance drowsy shadows - homo debtori, buried in the holes of bare survival.
in that dream I was a beggar, scavenging from skips. suddenly I was holding a length of rope, pulling with it a boat full of black bags, trying to guess if they were full of corpses, leftovers of food or unwanted old clothes. first I dragged it through a wild park. then through some factory yards. later I hauled it along a deserted street. it was raining. then it started to snow.
in that dream I was dancing with Meredith Monk in a deserted factory in the suburbs. we both had long ponytails and grey hair. sixty-year-old Meredith was wearing a red dress and played on a Jew’s harp. then she told me to make such noises as might come from the belly of the earth. from rocks. or from the stars. I made the noises, jumped up and down and twizzled round. at once we both turned into children but went on dancing. we both felt so light.
in that dream I was drinking coffee in a cafe on the High Street when Che Guevara came and sat next to me with a dead face. I wasn’t in the least bit frightened and held out my cup to him but he flung it to the ground. worldly pleasure will end in a terrible fire! he said passionately. we looked into each other’s eyes for a long time. his dead. mine alive.
in that dream I was sitting on a seat in a bus. it was going along the streets of Montgomery in the state of Alabama. Rosa Parks was sitting across the aisle. the driver shouted at her. he wanted her to sit in the blacks-only section. Rosa didn’t move. she turned to me and said: I can’t get up because they have broken my arms and legs. I have a pain in my head like Emmet Till had after they‘d smashed up his skull. and my face is disfigured but you can’t see it. and I have his mother’s heart. tell it just like that to all the others! Rosa ordered me and went on sitting in the whites-only section. timid and proud.
in that dream I was a six-year-old girl. I had curly platinum hair and was holding a rubber doll. we sat in a large flowerpot with a China rose. the doll and I. with my finger I wrote something in the air. something in Chinese. beneath the rose I spoke in Chinese with the voice of a little bird. the China rose was in bloom and had waxy red petals.
Translation: Jonathan Gresty
[39 snov]
/výber z cyklu/
sen 11
v tom sne som bola stratená v hneve. robot na snívanie cudzích snov. o petrolejových briliantoch. zlatých tehlách. jachtách na súkromných moriach.
a v diaľke malátne tiene - homo debitor, zakopaný v jamách holého prežitia.
sen 14
v tom sne som bola žobráčka, vyberajúca kontajnery. naraz som ťahala na lane čln. bol plný čiernych vriec. hádala som, či sú to mŕtvoly, zvyšky jedál alebo odvrhnuté šatstvo. najprv som s člnom s námahou kráčala po divom parku. potom cez fabrické dvory. ešte neskôr som ten čln vliekla po dlažbe opustenej ulice. pršalo. potom padal sneh.
sen 2
v tom sne sme tancovali s Meredith Monk v opustenej fabrike na predmestí. obe sme mali dlhé vrkoče a šedivé vlasy. šesťdesiatročná ročná Meredith bola oblečená v červených šatách a pri tanci hrala na drumbli. potom mi povedala, že mám vydávať zvuky ako z brucha zeme. ako z kameňov. ako z hviezd. vydávala som tie zvuky, natriasala sa, krútila okolo svojej osi. naraz sme sa obe premenili na deti, ale tancovali sme ďalej. bolo nám obom ľahko.
sen 18
v tom sne som pila kávu v kaviarni na Hlavnej ulici. prisadol si ku mne Che Guevara s mŕtvou tvárou. vôbec som sa ho nezľakla. potisla som k nemu svoju šálku. on ju ale prudko zhodil na zem. rozkoš tohto sveta skončí v strašnom ohni! povedal vášnivo. dlho sme si pozerali do očí. jeho mŕtve. moje živé.
sen 23
v tom sne som sedela na sedadle autobusu. Predieral sa ulicami mesta Montgomery v štáte Alabama. Cez uličku oproti si sadla čierna Rosa Parks. Šofér sa na ňu rozkričal. Chcel, aby si presadla do sekcie pre černochov. Rosa sa nepohla. Obrátila sa ku mne a povedala: nemôžem vstať, lebo mi polámali ruky i nohy. V hlave cítim bolesť, ako keď Emmeta Tilla mlátili do lebky. Aha, mám jeho znetvorenú tvár, len to nevidno. Mám i srdce jeho mamy. Presne tak to povedz ostatným! Prikázala mi Rosa a ďalej sedela v sekcii pre bielych. Placho a hrdo.
sen 15
v tom sne som bola šesť ročné dievčatko. mala som kučeravé, platinové vlasy a držala bábu z kaučuku. sedeli sme vo veľkom črepníku s čínskou ružou. ja a bába. prstom som písala do vzduchu. písala som po čínsky. pod tou ružou som aj rozprávala po čínsky vtáčím hláskom. čínska ruža kvitla voskovými červenými kvetmi.
sen 10
v tom sne som počula temnú vodu. hudbu synkopu. "naše neurózy, naše neurózy, naše neurózy ...", spieval spevák - asi z Depeche Mode. potom začalo svitať a vtáčky ostro štebotali.
sen 34
v tom sne boli tri hodiny v noci. majster Čuang-ce ma zobral za ruku a vyviedol z izby do lesa na kopci. počula som slabý vietor. Čuang-ce mi šepkal, že to zíva priestor a zobúdza iné hlasy. počula som, ako buble voda v skrytých tôňach. tlmene bučia kmene stromov a ich konáre. píska tráva. mrmle zem cez desať tisíc prasklín a jám. potom som počula, ako bzukotajú moje nervy a šuští krv. neviem, kto prudko zastavil tie hlasy.
