the price of winning (haibun)

saturday night. after two days of intermittent rain the clouds begin to thin out. the night air is fresh and sharp. and it tastes of salt – a sign the sea is near.

we enter a huge tent. we arrive early but the air already reeks of sweat and booze and cigarette smoke. and as more people come in and begin to shuffle and dance beneath the rostrum it becomes increasingly stuffy. i want to leave but my colleagues convince me to stay until the end of the award ceremony. we have a cup to collect.

2 a.m.
a gull glides above
the hotel roof

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sobotni večer. po dveh dneh občasnega dežja se oblaki tanjšajo. nočni zrak je svež in oster. diši po soli - znak, da morje ni daleč.

vstopimo v velik šotor. zgodnji smo, a zrak že zaudarja po znoju in pijači in cigaretnem dimu. ko vstopa še več ljudi in se začne prerivati in poplesavati pod odrom, postaja vse bolj zadušljivo. rada bi odšla,a me kolegice prepričajo, da ostanem do konca podelitve. prevzeti moramo pokal.

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dve zjutraj

galeb zdrsne prek

strehe hotela