bad father likes the carnival
he changes masks year-round
finds it immensely amusing
he’s phonetically gifted
a polyglot
fluently bad in all the languages of the world
he rules from the shadows within
knows exactly what you want
makes sure
you never get it
he’s seductive and charming
some say charismatic
when he dies
all the world’s dignitaries
attend his funeral
but the next day
he resurrects unseen
sips whisky
reads his own necrologies
bad father doesn’t feel a thing
it’s a point of pride
everything he cannot feel
you feel triply
bad father eats
ortolans
dips them in cognac
as he sermonises on socialism
and workers’ rights
the worse he is
the more the children love him
ape him
believing that someday
they’d entrench themselves in his place
unaware that he’s long been
entrenched in them
bad father
writes a poem about bad father
with a bone-tired daughter’s hand
in the poem
she sticks a stake in his heart
in reality
he sticks her head in the oven
bad father only wants to fuck
knows exactly
what a woman should look like
he introduces standards
of aesthetic surgery
turns them all into mannequins
with bar codes on their napes
to those who don’t want to be mannequins
he whispers that looks don’t matter
they are his brainy lovelies
he makes them work
twice as hard
shin up the mountain
on day two of their period
write a dissertation
whilst in labour
be iron ladies
single and determined
to introduce
the new old order
in his name
sons he castrates
if not directly
then through the mother
leaves them permanently latched
onto her teat
turns them into perpetual boys
little peter pans
who only want their tinker bell
bad father advocates non-violence
love and solidarity
always has
he worries about our safety
especially since 9/11
worries so much
he kills six million
people with worry
bad father always needs
a scapegoat
a projection screen
bad father
is a victim
of bad father
and when all the strategies fail
there is always
the victim card
that’s his trump
works every time
bad father tells you
that you
are bad
whispers through all your windows
assures you that there are mortal sins
for which you’ll be punished
bad father is
the supreme authority
he governs through one of the two poles
those whose poles can no longer
be hijacke
drive him insane
he hates them more than anything
ignores them systematically
abuses them
hushes them up
pretends they don’t exist
bad father is so bad
he makes the mother
look better than she is
that’s just contrast
she’s an accomplice
a passive observer
a peacekeeping mission in Srebrenica
she’s never at fault
enjoys protections under international law
doesn’t know where she was
or what she was doing
during genocide
if he is bad
she must be good
if he doesn’t cry
her tears cannot
be false
bad father gets up early
lest he misses something
he enjoys that sense of control and domination
before the world (finally) rises
bad father gives likes
to all his children
obedient ones in particular
knows what they think
and where they go
plies them with likes
so they keep coming back for more
bad father attends a protest
against bad father
invites the organisers for a cup of tea
compliments their hair styles
there are other methods
but this one without intimidation
is proven
bad father
closes the borders one day
deploys troops, unleashes dogs
welcomes you warmly the day after
helps you look for a job
bad father created the world
in his image and likeness
all things must be like him
what is not like him
he tramples down with brutality
bad father is the arbiter
of our reality
on his good days
when he isn’t so morose
it may seem to the children
he has more virtues than faults
bad father has a name
but no one calls him by it
the children refuse
to use it
saying
he is our father
such as he is
children sometimes do
the opposite of bad father
run in a different direction
till one day in the mirror
they face
that same deathless chimera
bad father likes nothing better than
when children argue and fight
the left spits on the right
the right twists the left’s wrists
bad father renounces all that is evil
and only when he’s drunk
he lets loose a cry –
the state, it is I!
loš otac voli karneval
mijenja maske kroz godinu
to ga beskrajno zabavlja
on je poliglot
s darom za fonetiku
tečno je loš na svim jezicima svijeta
vlada iz (tvoje) sjene
dobro zna što želiš
i radi na tome da to
nikada ne dobiješ
zavodljiv je i šarmantan
neki kažu karizmatičan
loš otac
kad umre
na sprovod mu dođu
svi dužnosnici svijeta
već sutra
on neopaženo uskrsne
pijucka viski
čita vlastite nekrologe
loš otac ništa ne osjeća
i ponosan je na to
za sve što on ne osjeća
ti osjećaš dvostruko
loš otac jede
ptice pjevice
umače ih u konjak
dok priča o socijalizmu
i radničkim pravima
što je gori
to ga djeca više vole
oponašaju ga
vjeruju da će jednoga dana
zasjesti na njegovo mjesto
ne vide da je on
već odavno zasjeo u njih
loš otac
napiše pjesmu o lošem ocu
rukom jedne iznurene kćeri
u pjesmi
ona mu zabije kolac u srce
u stvarnosti
on njoj zabije glavu u pećnicu
loš otac te samo želi jebati
točno zna
kako žena treba izgledati
uvodi standarde
estetske kirurgije
sve ih pretvara u lutke
s bar kodovima na vratu
onima koje ne žele biti lutke
šapuće da nije važno kako izgledaju
one su njegove pametnice
tjera ih da rade
dvostruko
da se penju na planinu
drugog dana menstruacije
da pišu doktorat
dok rađaju
da budu čelične dame
odlučne i same
da uvode stari
novi poredak
u njegovo ime
sinove kastrira
ako ne izravno
onda preko majke
ostavi ih trajno prikopčane
na njezinu sisu
pretvori ih u vječne dječake
male petre panove
koji samo žele svoju zvončicu
loš otac propagira nenasilje
ljubav i solidarnost
oduvijek
brine za našu sigurnost
pogotovo od 9/11
toliko se brine
da šest milijuna ljudi
pobije od brige
lošem ocu uvijek treba
dežurni krivac
platno za projekciju
žrtveno janje
loš otac je
žrtva
lošeg oca
i kad sve strategije propadnu
uvijek mu preostaje
karta žrtve
ona je joker zovi
uvijek dobiva
loš otac ti govori
da si ti
loš/a
šapće kroz sve tvoje prozore
uvjerava te da postoje smrtni grijesi
i da ćeš za njih biti kažnjen/a
loš otac je
vrhovni autoritet
vlada kroz jedan od dva pola
izluđuju ga oni
čije se polove više ne može zaposjesti
njih mrzi više od ičega
sustavno ih ignorira
zlostavlja
ušutkava
pravi se da ne postoje
loš otac je toliko loš
da se majka uz njega
čini boljom nego što jest
to je samo kontrast
ona je suučesnik
pasivni promatrač
mirovna misija u Srebrenici
nikad ništa nije kriva
štiti je međunarodno pravo
ne zna gdje je bila
ni što je radila
za vrijeme genocida
ako je on loš
ona mora biti dobra
ako on ne plače
njezine suze ne mogu
biti lažne
loš otac ustaje rano
da mu ništa ne promakne
uživa u osjećaju kontrole i nadmoći
prije nego li svijet ustane
loš otac lajka
svu svoju djecu
pogotovo poslušnu
zna što misle
i kud se kreću
stalno ih lajka
da mu se vraćaju po još
loš otac dođe na prosvjed
protiv lošeg oca
pozove organizatorice na čaj
pohvali im frizuru
ima i drugih metoda
ali ova bez zastrašivanja
dokazano najbolja
loš otac
jedan dan zatvara granice
postavlja vojsku, pušta pse
drugi te dan velikodušno prima
traži ti posao
loš otac je stvorio svijet
na svoju sliku
sve mora biti nalik njemu
što nije njemu nalik
to uništava i zatire
loš otac je arbitar
naše stvarnosti
loš otac
ima i dobrih dana
djeci se tada priviđa
da možda ipak
ima više vrlina nego mana
loš otac ima ime i prezime
ali tako ga nitko ne zove
djeca odbijaju
imenovati
kažu
kakav je, takav je
naš je
ponekad djeca
rade sve suprotno od lošega oca
bježe u drugom smjeru
sve dok jedan dan ne susretnu
u ogledalu
tu istu besmrtnu himeru
loš otac najviše voli kad se djeca
svađaju i tuku
ljevica pljune na desnicu
desnica ljevici izvrne ruku
loš otac se ograđuje od svakog zla
samo kad se napije
mu se omakne:
država, to sam ja!