This poem was distilled from a walking seminar through the archaeological landscapes of Istria, organized within the Route Biographies project (ZRC SAZU) in April 2025. The walk was less about reaching a destination and more about getting lost in questions: How should archaeology study movement? Does the ground remember our steps, or do only our feet remember the ground? To Walk and (not) to Think grew out of this tension—between walking and thinking, moving and pausing, wandering and wondering. It is a modest attempt to show how thoughts can trip over footsteps, how footsteps can outrun thoughts, and how sometimes the two politely ignore each other while still sharing the same path.
To Walk and (not) to Think
I walk because I’ve no choice.
A thought hovers on the edge of my step
waiting for me to chuck it into the thicket.
But the thought moves even as I stand still.
And I stand still when the thought wanders.
Where do we meet?
Nowhere.
We walk past each other.
Translated from Slovene by Ana Jelnikar
Published Sept 2025. 2025/17
