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This poem expresses a very interesting idea related to democracy: just as in the case of The Trail of Tears, the contemporary
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case of the Slovenian Erased people is the result of illegal action by a legal democratic government. The legal government is breaking its own law in the name of democracy.
In the following poem, written before the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia, which had previously been a multi-cultural society, we see the suspicion of man towards man (and in this poem Dr. Anakiev uses a kigo of winter to good affect): !
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the start of the war — Through bare branches I spy on
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my neighbors’ houses
Here is the author’s commentary:The last two lines of the poem were written in Tolmin, Slovenia, in the winter of 1990 just before the Yugoslav war started. I was aware of the nationalistic excitation of my neighbors, but not being an ethnic Slovenian it had not made an impression on me. ! To convey the unspeakable horror that resulted from the war in Yugoslavia, Dr. Anakiev transfers a human experience to nature, since the unspeakable is also the irrational. The short poem is based on Bashō’s famous poem ! !
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The summer grasses— Of brave soldiers’ dreams
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The aftermath.
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(tr. Donald Keene)
Here is Dr. Anakiev’s version ! ! !
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Young grasses . . . A mountain bleeds from a helmet full of dreams