take tram # 22 from Namesti Miru Peace Square
zig-zag downhill to the river:
IP Pavlova, yeah, THAT Pavlov
Štěpánská, saint Stephen street
Karlovo náměstí, Charles Square
Národní třída, National Avenue
Národní divadlo National Theatre
across the Vltava on Most Legii Legion Bridge
touching midstream once without stopping
on Strelecky Ostrov Rifle Island
on to Újezd, riders are expected at
Hellichova,
& Malostranské náměstí Lesser town square
in front of the Starbucks
it's busy here
with people going from Karluv Most the Charles Bridge
up the long steep climb to Hradcany the Prague Castle
some other time
shoulder thru the streaming crowds
back towards Karluv Most
and on, past the caricaturists, artists, and street musicians
one quarter on, take the hidden steps down to Kampa
it feels like a different place, quieter and more picturesque
take the first right at the Zlatych Nuzeg the Gold Knife
around the narrow street
to where there is an old mill
the water that drove the old wheel is a diversion from the Vltava
there is an iron fence there now
visitors place padlocks on that fence to pledge their love
hold that thought
now walk on the same direction 100 meters to the Lennon Wall
an imperfect Celebration of That Beatle
originally spontaneous graffiti
hated & suppressed by the communist masters
now, an outlet for sophomoric rehashings
what must've been an amazing & moving subversity
is now ... something less ... in the Nove Svbode New Freedom
with a shrug as comical & meaningful & Czech
as a gallic shrug, but different
the sveckoid employed for years
with keeping that wall clean
would say
"Co naděláš?" what can you do?
then with the resigned plodding pace
of hourly wage-slaves everywhere
set to with his brush
now,
back to that fence with the sentimental padlocks
just like the communist masters painted over the Lennon Wall
in futile suppression of burgeoning freedom of expression
they must've hated these padlocks, too
they have purged padlocks periodically,
else the fence would sag under the load of
so much superficial security
any golem employed for years
with keeping that fence clean
as futilely as keeping the Lennon wall
clean of graffiti
would say
with a shrug
"Co naděláš?" what can you do?
then with the resigned plodding pace
of hourly wage-slaves everywhere
set to with his hammer
well, after the Sametova Revoluce the Velvet Revolution
it would hardly be fair
to deprive a man of his income
but knowing in an incipient capitalist way
that such a spot is a tourist draw
a compromise was made
so each winter
unseen
the old lumpenprole sets to with his hammer
removing old padlocks to make room for new
with his own partial grasp of capitalism
he is careful —
it is a science known to all janitors —
the locks may have some re-sale value
at some flea-market
***
place a lock that
pledges love
on the iron fence
and pose for a picture
to preserve the moment . . . anyway . . .
because it still feels like a revolutionary act
David Matthews is an American Ex-Pat living and working in Prague, The Czech Republic. His work has appeared in previous incarnations of Unlikely Stories.
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