The Café Slavia stands on the corner of Národní Street and Smetana Quay in the centre of Prague. It is one of the finest cafés in Europe, where generations of Czechs have met to talk and drink.  On one side it faces the National Theatre and on the other the Vltava river, and above that Prague Castle. It is as if the whole city is laid out before the coffee-drinker for his or her amusement. On a clear day, one can catch also glimpses of the continent of Europe, and even Ireland.

This poem, written in January 2008, is set in the Café Slavia, and comments on subjects as various as the Irish language, the Northside versus the Southside of Dublin, and the poor quality of Paul Durcan's poetry. There is also a spirited defence of the Irish bourgeoisie and a taxi-driver (perhaps a distant cousin of Twenty Major) who makes the case that the 1980s in Ireland were better than the present. It is published here by the author for the first time.

 To Poem

Justin Quinn was born in Dublin in 1968 and has lived in Prague since 1994, where he works at the Charles University. He has published several collections of poems, and 2011 sees the publication of his fifth, Close Quarters (Gallery). He has translated the poems of Petr Borkovec, J. H. Krchovský and Ivan Blatný. In 2008, Seren publish his selection of Borkovec's poems,  From the Interior: Poems 1995-2005. He is married and has two sons.