Venice masks

Sunday 31 March 2013

Easter - Katharine Tynan

Bring flowers to strew His way,
Yea, sing, make holiday;
Bid young lambs leap,
And earth laugh after sleep.

Saturday 30 March 2013

Go To That Impenetrable Realm - Mirabai

Go to that impenetrable realm
That death himself trembles to look upon.
There plays the fountain of love
With swans sporting on its waters.

Friday 29 March 2013

Salvator Mundi: Via Crucis - Denise Levertov

Maybe He looked indeed
much as Rembrandt envisioned Him
in those small heads that seem in fact
portraits of more than a model.

Thursday 28 March 2013

If My Voice Is Not Reaching You - Afzal Ahmed Syed

If my voice is not reaching you
add to it the echo
echo of ancient epics

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Eve and Lilith - Seamus O'Sullivan

With Adam I have mourned for Lilith flown;
Yea, walked disconsolate in Paradise,

Tuesday 26 March 2013

The Depth of a Landscape - Kim Sa-In

In gusting wind
short-stemmed plants shudder and tremble
yet no one pays attention.

Saturday 23 March 2013

A Thousand Desires - Mirza Ghalib

Thousands of desires, each worth dying for...
Many of them I have realised... yet I yearn for more...

A young Levite among priests - Osip Emilevich Mandelstam

A young Levite among priests,
He remained long on morning watch.
Jewish night grew thick around him,
The ruined temple was solemnly being raised.

Friday 22 March 2013

Thursday 21 March 2013

If You Are Seeking Allah - Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai

If you are seeking Allah,
Then keep clear of religious formalities.
Those who have seen Allah
Are away from all religions!
Those who do not see Allah here,
How will they see Him beyond?

Wednesday 20 March 2013

To Margarita Debayle - Rubén Darío

Margarita, how beautiful the sea is:
still and blue.
The orange blossom in the breezes
drifting through.
The skylark in its glory
has your accent too:
Here, Margarita, is a story
made for you.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

A Conceited Mistake - Vasko Popa

Once upon a time there was a mistake
So silly so small
That no one would even have noticed it

Monday 18 March 2013

A Song Of Poppies - Virna Sheard

I love red poppies! Imperial red poppies!
Sun-worshippers are they;
Gladly as trees live through a hundred summers
They live one little day.

Sunday 17 March 2013

Cantiga de Santa Maria, No. 100 - Alfonso X El Sabio

Mary, magnified be,
with Daystar beside thee;
show the way where bide we
true to God and thou our guide be.

Saturday 16 March 2013

Hunger Camp At Jaslo - Wislawa Szymborska

Write it. Write. In ordinary ink
on ordinary paper: they were given no food,
they all died of hunger. "All. How many?

Friday 15 March 2013

At crow's nest pass - Emily Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)

At Crow's Nest Pass the mountains rend
Themselves apart, the rivers wend
A lawless course about their feet,
And breaking into torrents beat
In useless fury where they blend
At Crow's Nest Pass.

Thursday 14 March 2013

from: Vikramankadevacarita - Bilhana Kavi

After scaling the peaks
of the of the curving-browed girl’s breasts,

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Jerusalem - Nizar Qabbani

I wept until my tears were dry
I prayed until the candles flickered
I knelt until the floor creaked

Tuesday 12 March 2013

While lounging in a chair - Afanasy Afanasevich Fet

While lounging in a chair, I looked up at the ceiling
   Where, teasing my imagination,
A circle hangs above the quiet lamp,
   And spins just like a ghostly shadow.

Monday 11 March 2013

It was with awe - Matsuo Basho

It was with awe
That I beheld
Fresh leaves, green leaves,
Bright in the sun.

Matsuo Basho (1644 - 1694) Japan
Tranlsated by Nobuyuki Yuasa