Venice masks

Sunday 29 June 2014

What Kind Of God? - Kabir

What kind of God would He be
if He did not hear the
bangles ring on
an ant’s
wrist

Saturday 28 June 2014

To the Moon - Giacomo Leopardi

Oh gracious moon, now as the year turns,
I remember how, heavy with sorrow,
I climbed this hill to gaze on you,

Friday 27 June 2014

Between going and staying the day wavers - Octavio Paz

Between going and staying the day wavers,
in love with its own transparency.
The circular afternoon is now a bay
where the world in stillness rocks.

Thursday 26 June 2014

The Half Door - Seumas O’Sullivan

Dark eyes, wonderful, strange and dear they shone
  A moment’s space;
And wandering under the white stars I had gone
  In a strange place.

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Tuesday 24 June 2014

The Audience - Eqrem Basha

The head of the protocol department asked
What are you involved in
We are tired I said

Monday 23 June 2014

To a Creole Lady - Charles Baudelaire

In a country perfumed with the sun’s embrace,
I knew ‘neath a dais of purpled palms,
And branches where idleness weeps o’er one’s face,
A Creolean lady of unknown charms.

Saturday 21 June 2014

The nymphs (The Hunter and the Hero - Book VII) - Bhāravi

The beauteous nymphs then left the sky,
Attended by Gandharvas1 skilled,
And joyous notes of drum and shell
And sound of cars the blue vault filled.

Friday 20 June 2014

The Absence - Paul Éluard

I speak to you over cities
I speak to you over plains

Thursday 19 June 2014

The Garmont of Gud Ladeis - Robert Henryson

Wald my gud lady lufe me best
And wirk eftir my will,
I suld ane garmond gudliest
Gar mak hir body till.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Quand vous serez bien vieille - Pierre de Ronsard

When you are old, in evening's candle-light
and skeining wool before the fireside blaze,
you'll read my verses, marvel, speak of days
‘when I was beautiful in Ronsard's sight.’

Tuesday 17 June 2014

I Bear No Anger - Heinrich Heine

I bear no anger, though my heart must break,
Love lost forever! No, not for thy sake.
Resplendent though thou be with diamonds bright,
No beam can fall into thy bosom’s night.

Monday 16 June 2014

Truce - Abdourahman Waberi

I scatter my voice all over of the town
There water outlines time

Sunday 15 June 2014

Where I become You - Antjie Krog

Where I become You
Star-stung blind and dying in gravitation
You come
Hard stained and upwards

Saturday 14 June 2014

A Good Play - Robert Louis Stevenson

We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of the back-bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of soft pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

Friday 13 June 2014

She wears a round skirt - Amir Khosrow

She wears a round skirt, stands on one leg,
That lady has eight legs,

Thursday 12 June 2014

The Shining Hours (I) - Emile Verhaeren

Oh, splendour of our joy and our delight,
Woven of gold amid the silken air!
See the dear house among its gables light,
And the green garden, and the orchard there!

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Tears - Wang Seng-ju

High o’er the hill the moon barque steers.
      The lantern lights depart.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Akure - Feyisayo Anjorin

Words are beautiful,
Some things are more than words;
Words could bind like cords,
Words could capture and keep in bounds.

Saturday 7 June 2014

Bertrand Russell 1872 - 1970 - Jaan Kaplinski

THIS OLD HAMMER IT SHINES LIKE SILVER
IT HAS NO MORE WEIGHT - THE OLD SILVER HAMMER
FLEW AWAY FROM THE HANDS OF THE BLACKSMITH
AND IS CLICKING ON THE NAILHEADS HIGH IN THE WINTER SKY

Friday 6 June 2014

To Sayf al-Dawla - Al-Mutanabbi

Resolutions are measured against those who make them;
generosity in accordance with the giver.

Thursday 5 June 2014

The pawn - C.F. Cavafy

As I often watch people playing chess
my eye follows one Pawn
that little by little finds his way
and manages to reach the last line in time.

Wednesday 4 June 2014

Fire - Hagiwara Sakutarō

I saw fire burning red
like a beast
you keep silent and do not say.

Tuesday 3 June 2014

An Essay on Birthing - Akiko Yosano

1.
As I climb into
The car, I know I am not
Coming back alive.
The hospital gate looks much
Like an execution ground.

Monday 2 June 2014

A Heavenly Woman's Imprisoned in the Palace (Buddhist Dancers) - Li Yu

A heavenly woman's imprisoned in the palace at Penglai Hill,
All are silent as she sleeps by day in the painted hall.

Sunday 1 June 2014

Creator of the Earth and Sky - Ambrose of Milan (Augusta Treverorum)

Creator of the earth and sky,
Ruling the firmament on high,
Clothing the day with robes of light,
Blessing with gracious sleep the night.