poetry day

Easter was quiet, eggsearch for toddlers was in a new location - I was a bit worried about nettles round the fence and ducks. We had just one merry round of parfume sprayers - which is good as we just somehow ended up short of wine - just enough for this lot, all three managed to produce a different verse, which is novel. We had a short visit from the sound-massage couple Jenő and Gundi, who bought a house in the village. They are moving in in the summer, hoping relevant house-repair work will be done by then. Nice people.
Our usual Wednesday Pécs outing was pleasant, we had less chores, especially as we forgot to do most of them, had a meal in Korhely - very nice food there lately. No cake! We gained a bit of weight back, as our Easter treat was a rather large apple-cake - not my fault, Erzsi had given me about a kilo of grated apples from her freezer... I did freeze some of the cake, but managed to eat too much, even with giving away quite a lot of it.
We are waiting excitedly for the hatch of the ducklings, and there are an other 30-odd to go into the incubator, as soon as they are out - the success-rate wasn't much for Erzsi's lot last year - 8 out of thirty, we have to see...
Yesterday our village celebrated Hungarian Poetry Day in the library - as the dance-group turned out, with the participants and their families it was a decent attendance. there were about 6 poem-reciters, and me, the only old one venturing a performance... the Jury was the retired headteacher from Újpetre and an other nice old teacher, both seemingly welcomed with fondness by the teenage dancers as well as the adults they used to teach. I received a very kind and enthusiastic appraisal - well, I was one of the 3 who put in a bit of fun and articulated well enough for the listeners to understand... I received gift and certificate. To my amusement József Attila's Nincsen Apám was chosen by two - see below (sounds much much better in Hungarian!) - the rebelliousness was ignored...) The rest of the entertainment was the dancegroup doing their country-western(!!) routine outside on the street, and the singer girls, also performing outside as the sound-system could not function elsewhere for some reason.
I stayed inside in the warm (we're having another cold spell),in the company of all the pogácsa and a nice old lady who told me interesting local tales. I have seen the dancers and the singers before, do not tell anyone, but have found them a bit tedious.
After the jury declared its judgement and gave out the prices, we had a nice chat with the teachers, turns out, that the headmaster is a painter since retirement, and must be fairly good at it as he's having a few exhibitions in Budapest as well as other places. We invited him to exhibit in Kiskassa - there are plans for another Fényfesztivál.

With the cold we had a bit of rain, too, the grass/lucerne is growing nicely.
(better today). Expecting the first hostelguests for the season - a couple of French walkers.
Had to put the heaters on for them - managed to take the chill off in the hostel house,
Unfortunately, I couldn't make good fotos of the poetry afternoon in the library, only the shivering singers and audience outside. Had to put in another Catone pic - enjoys the bit of sunshine so much.

1925

With a pure heart.

Without father without mother
without God or homeland either
without crib or coffin-cover
without kisses or a lover

for the third day - without fussing
I have eaten next to nothing.
My store of power are my years
I sell all my twenty years.

Perhaps, if no else will
the buyer will be the devil.
With a pure heart - that's a job:
I may kill and I shall rob.

They'll catch me, hang me high
in blessed earth I shall lie,
and poisonous grass will start
to grow on my beautiful heart.

Translated by Thomas Kabdebo