Milton Manaki
Is caught in a cross-fire:
Bronze partisans
Fight knights of the Jedi
The war is raging
The Red Star versus
Lucas’ Star Warriors
The revenge of the Sith
Or
The revenge of Tito
Whichever prevails!
And in the heat
Of the battle
A somebody-nobody
Neither a partisan nor a knight
A specimen of a sort
And a flabby one indeed
Enters the frame shouting:
Here’s the Slovenian consulate
Photographing the premises
Is not allowed!
I lower my camera.
Hey Manaki do you hear this idiot?
– I say.
But Manaki hardly flinches
And silently takes his shot
Maybe he knows
Maybe he knows
That the day shall come
When some chargé d’affaires
Will order him in a flat voice
To put away his camera
For security reasons
And to step away immediately
Manaki
It’s all ready for the final shot
The idiot is about to step into the frame
And I somehow fear that even Judgment Day
May feel very much like this:
Some junior clerk from St. Peter’s Office
Will turn up and order everyone to part in peace
Since no gathering has been announced
Not even in the Kedron Valley
Or on the Mount of Olives
Or at the Golden Gate
And may angels pray as they should
That the wire be removed
Because if the municipal serviceman turns up
Then God help them
For Doomsday would be nigh