A beautiful, sunny late October day. We are traveling to Mol. The occupational therapist, Dragana Lazić, Miša, and I. The car's wheel is in the safe hands of Dragana Ivančeva, so we can relax and, while chatting, enjoy the beauty of the landscape we are passing through. The landscape is typically Banat, then Bačka. I remembered that song, "Flat as nowhere, all is flat...". But all this flatness is bathed in Miholjsko sunshine, which caresses the fragrant fields and the hardworking farmers who are rushing to finish their work before the rains and snow come.
We arrive in Mol, at the Gerontology Center, for the "Literary Gatherings." A warm welcome from the hosts. Many familiar faces from previous meetings. Along with the hosts, there are participants and staff from Bečej, Čurug, Kanjiža, and our "team." Over coffee and juices, old acquaintances are renewed, and new ones are made.
The program begins. One poem follows another, verses float through the space, and it seems to me that they want to go outside into the sun, to merge with the colors and scents of Miholjsko summer. Among a few humorous poems and prosy sentences, love poems dominate—love for the beloved, whether returned or unreturned, and love for Nature, that primordial mother and guide for us all.
At the end of the program, the hosts prove they are true hosts and serve us a very delicious lunch. And, after lunch, as is customary, comes the song. First, quietly, shyly, and then more freely and loudly: "If these little roses would bloom," followed by the second, third...
And time—just like time—always runs ahead of us. After a brief stay in the sunlit yard, the goodbyes begin. Hugs, a few kisses, and some phone numbers are exchanged. Maybe this promises something new. Maybe it will lead to new verses, new Poetry, as sunny and warm as this Miholjsko day.
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