Thank you, Sheldon.
First of all, as in a scientific lecture, the apologies.
I'm a genuine Czech with not enough experience actually.
I never learned-- I had never formal schooling in English.
I find it very easy to read in English,
but it may be very difficult for you to understand.
So whenever you are completely lost,
you may just raise your hand and ask, what was it,
and correct my pronunciation.
Anyway, just this afternoon we spoke
about listening to poetry in the native language.
And in my deep, deepest feelings and knowledge,
nobody, even in the native language,
gets everything from poet's reading.
And the most of the pleasures of listening to poetry reading
is to understand at least 10% and 20%,
and the real understanding is the greatest aesthetic pleasure
of it.
So you may count on this 20%.
I usually read about 18 poems because it
gives the user 45 minutes, but liking it here in Tucson--
the landscape, the city, and the people so much, so I thought,
I'll make it 19.
Now, I have about 22, which is, of course, a dark menace.
But I usually am able to watch the audience and I
read only to the point when about 20%--
not over 20% are asleep.
Then I more or less stop or make it shorter.
Just for you to adapt to my, as it
was labeled in Canada, idiosyncratic English,
I will read first two very simple childish poems.
The first one, both in English and Czech
to show how close it is.
The first is "Clowns."
You may read it also "poets."
"Clowns."
"Where do clowns go?
What to do clowns eat?
Where do clowns sleep?
What do clowns do when nobody, just nobody laughs anymore,
Mummy?
Šaškové
„Kam chodí šaškové?
Co jedí šaškové?
Kde spí šaškové?
Co dělají šaškové,
když už se nikdo,
ale vůbec nikdo nesměje, mami?“
At least the "mommy" is the same.