2010-09-26

Yesterday a young man came to my stall at Oxford Castle Market, and bought this journal.
I created it couple of months ago. On the front there is a dried Primula veris flower and a poem about this flower in Czech language. The flower, in Czech called "Petrklíč" what means "The Key of St. Peter", the Key that opens the Gate of Spring and blesses the Summer.

The poem says:

Květ nejkrásnější
se k zemi sklání

líbezná píseň
dítek poutníků


Země zrodila
léta požehnání

The words of the poem where indivudially selected and cut out from sheets of an old family Bible which was almost destroyed when I found it in an old box.
The young man asked me to translate the poem so I tried to do so and sent him the translation via email:

The beautiful flower

bends to the ground

like a sweet song
of children of pilgrims

The Earth's given birth
to the Blessing of summer

I also told him the story how the journal was created and he sent me this beautiful email:

"Thank you for translating your beautiful poem for me and creating such an amazing and historic journal. I bought the journal to send to my girlfriend. She is always writing down her thoughts and interesting quotes that she comes across.
The story of your journal, even empty and without words inside of it, has been a blessing to both of us. I hope that she is able to fill it with dreams, prayers, quotes and poetry."


I was very pleased with his email. I believe that each one of my journals is made special for one specific person and it is with great pleasure for me to see when the journal meet his "owner".