Prijatelju Jozi Šantaku
Occasional verse and dedications
To My Friend Jozo Šantak
U ravnini Podravinerodila me moja mati,mnogo znanja u djetinjstvu,nije mogla meni dati.
In the Podravina lowlandit was there my mother bore me;much of learning, in my childhood,she could never set before me.
Prohujale godinice,drugima sam mladost dao,upoznao mnogo svijeta,o Sopju sam malo znao.
How the dear years rushed on by;I gave others all my youth;much of the world I came to know,little of Sopje, in truth.
Dogodi se neko čudo,slučaj me u Sopje vrati.Da bih Sopje opisao,nisam mog'o ništa znati.
Then some miracle occurred:chance brought me to Sopje again.But to write Sopje's description,I knew nothing, it was plain.
Kad upoznah Šantak Jozu,Podravinu on je znao.Sopjanskoga Doajena,što mi mnogo znanja dao.
When I met with Šantak Jozo,Podravina he knew well;Sopje's Doyen, who then gave meknowledge more than I could tell.
I tako je sve počelo,stih po stih sam pisat stao,da napišem ovu knjigu,Šantak mi je pomoć dao.
And that's how it all began:verse by verse I took up pen;so that I could write this book,Šantak helped me there and then.
Al u knjizi pokraj mogai njegovo ime stoji.Stvarajući ovu knjigu,pjesma se za pjesmom roji.
And beside my name, his ownin the book is standing too;as this book was being made,poems swarmed the whole way through.
I tako se eto rodi,djelo koje Sopju znači.Ja ću opet sa Šantakom,vremena za drugu naći.
And so, there, a work was bornthat means much for Sopje's sake;and with Šantak, once again,I'll find time another to make.
Valpovo, 23. 01. 2013.
Valpovo, January 23, 2013