Harry´s Blog

Jozo has left us

My friend Jozo has left us for the Universe.

I first met him when I attended the Struga Evenings Poetry Festival in 1972. I last saw him at that venue in 1982. We kept in touch after that. I didn’t think I’d never see him again. God, how I miss him! He was a character in every sense of the word. I’m sure that no one who ever met him forgot him. Here’s what I wrote about him: “Jozo Boskovski’s poems are warm and mellow. The Macedonian sun shines on them. His lines flow in the eternal river of poetry. But he doesn’t let himself be carried by the current - or any current. He writes with an ease that comes from an innate sense of rhythm and form. Boskovski has a deep, powerful voice that carries beautifully. His poems are imbued with the resonance of his speech organ. They not only read well on the page, but they are effective when recited.”

Here’s a poem by Jozo in my translation and a poem about Jozo by our mutual friend David Axelrod. Yes, he was like that, but how can I say what I want to say? Jozo was pure gold. Goodbye, my dear friend!

- Herbert Kuhner

The Crocus

Jozo T. Boskovski

The crocus is nature’s first flower
(The crocus is white or yellow)
The crocus grows with a flame
at its tip
and warms the year
The winter snows
and the dilemma of time
take flight from this flower
The game begins with the bud
The earth inhales
and with one breath
everything is fertilized
and birth begins
and there is joy
The crocus hails the year
The game always repeats itself

The Man Who Said “Maybe”

David Axelrod

He said a European trip
took more time going
than returning
because the earth turned favorably.
Try to explain the world a single entity - earth
sky and sea - he’d
listen patiently.
Next time he’d mention
travel, his theory
of anti gravity
was there again
more steadfast than
Galileo’s pendulum.
If a helicopter
hovered over a city,
would the next city
come along eventually?”
“Maybe.”