Mr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Czech Poet Miroslav Holub
The door
Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.
Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.
Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.
Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.
At least
there’ll be
a draught.
Poem The Door By Miroslav Holub
from the volume Poems Before & After: Collected English translations (Bloodaxe Books, 2006).
Sketch of mister sketchy nicknamed the philosopher. A person who meets difficulties and complex matters with calmness and composure.
Interpretation. Who would want to argue with this interpretation? What the poem is about is easy to describe.
I read this plainly written poem as a praise for the open mind. The narrator is like a doorman of a social club encouraging everyone to come in. He invitingly opens the door showing what we possibly can expect entering the door. He tells us not to be afraid for chances, not to stare at the close doors, keeping them shut, because that’s the way of missing opportunities and new experiences. I enjoy the choice of words, simple and direct. Really this poem is a hymn to an open mind. Who would want to argue with this interpretation? Probably it will be me myself, paraphrasing the text in a different perception.
Collected English Translations: new expanded edition Miroslav Holub, 2006.
The poet was also an immunologist, this book cover, a close-up of a microscopic rendition of blood cells, refers to his profession.
Quote from the publisher
“He gives a scientist’s bemused view of human folly. Mixing myth, history and folk-tale with science and philosophy, his poems are surreal mini-dramas often pivoting on paradoxes.”