ATTILA TOMAJI: THE DARK HEART OF SUMMER - BOOK LAUNCH
Only man can die, he begins one of his poems, and this could perhaps be the motto of this strange, profound and profoundly sad volume. But if we turn the sentence around, we come to the conclusion that only death is worthy of man. Nor would this contradict the previous statement. Why should we contradict it if we don't have to? For the poet, of the many choices of tone and attitude, two are basically offered: either he dissects the possible great questions of existence, or, more modestly, of life, or he tries to get to the essential questions of life, or existence, by nitpicking at the small things. Attila Tomaji is predestined by his literary constitution for the former.
He in whom day and night cannot be separated cannot see the small world. It is therefore undecided whether something begins or ends when the poem reaches his soul. I also use the word soul and poem, which makes this speech dubious in the face of current fashions, but the poet puts what the current canons want to put in his mouth. And what they want to squeeze out of it. Such a figure dies slowly, only many times, perhaps season by season, as he comes to realize himself. Alone he wanders on strange stars, where poet and God fight their endless duel.
Schedule
We killed first, then / hugged the women who smelled of loneliness, / watched the terraces, the stupid city / sparrows fighting for crumbs. Again, it is undecided whether something begins or ends. Maybe it doesn't matter. In time, the forests will fall. And something else, about the insoluble. Calm down now, slow down, soul, trinket, / it just goes on, there's no origin, / no dance step the world can fix, / the gods weep, their weeping is futile. This is Luciferian torment, not mockery. "Look on it as a tragedy, look on it as a comedy, and it will pass," says the speech. But the great puppeteer of the world comes up with the line, "I was amused, but not amused." The question remains: is something beginning or ending...
Tibor Zalán
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Nyitott Műhely
The Open Workshop is a fine place, a place where many different kinds of people can feel at home, which is to say that there is something that is rare and difficult to create, the spirit of the place. This spirit is very sympathetic to me, because it means both that there are shows that interest me and that the occasional stew is okay. And that I'm likely to meet people there who I'm happy to meet, and it's not even out of the question that they're me. Such public (open) spaces are rare in Budapest.
