Ballad of the Tar Woman
From the age of eighteen
She worked in the Tar Plant —
As if in a fairy's den
Every day she woke with tar
Every day she swallowed tar
(even on Saturday and Sunday shifts)
Every night she fell asleep with tar
Sometimes she even missed it
On vacation — in dark town Ostrava
At her mother's nursing home —
Tar is not a Dior perfume
Nor Chanel No. 5,
Definitely not!
Tar is a killer
Tar knows how to wait
Wait long and patiently
It chose Her —
The doctors found a nasty disease
A creeping one
Unobtrusive
With the diagnosis C349
No one boasts about such a sickness
But what to do!
One must live
And also work
To earn bread
To pay for water
For gas
For rent
For kindergarten
To pay the doctor
For food
Clothing
Transport
And other expenses
She went to chemotherapy
And to church
Praying up above
Pleading desperately
For the salvation of her soul
Who can endure this!
Such pain!
Such suffering!
Despite all the torment
She did not forget to love life
And her husband Dalibor
And her four-year-old son Ondøej
Loved as long as she could
Until Christmas
The family received
A sad gift on Christmas Eve —
Death does not choose!
Translated into English by artificial intelligence
Published: https://firesnake.eu