Venice masks

Thursday 29 December 2016

A Recovered Memory of Water - Núala Ní Dhomhnaill

Sometimes when the mermaid’s daughter
is in the bathroom
cleaning her teeth with a thick brush
and baking soda
she has the sense the room is filling
with water.

Tuesday 27 December 2016

The Fetch - Ciarán Carson

I woke. You were lying beside me in the double bed,
prone, your long dark hair fanned out over the downy pillow.

Saturday 24 December 2016

The heavens beaming with light - Joao Jose Nunes

The heavens beaming with light,
The earth quivering with flowers,
They sing, they greet with exquisite ardor
The birth of the Redeemer.

Friday 23 December 2016

Thursday 22 December 2016

The tree beneath the earth - Karin Boye

There grows a tree beneath the earth;
a mirage pursues me,
a song of living glass, of burning silver.
Like darkness before light
must all weight melt,
where only one drop falls of the song from the leaves.

Wednesday 21 December 2016

A cooking egg - T. S. Eliot

Pipit sate upright in her chair
Some distance from where I was sitting;
Views of the Oxford Colleges
Lay on the table, with the knitting.

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Fertile land - Jorge Barbosa

Of banana trees, orange trees
Cashew-trees
Coffee-trees, grapes, potato plantations;

Monday 19 December 2016

Cry of the African Child - Amie Sallah

It is my father's land
It is my mother's land
It is my home land
They call it the dark continent
We call it Africa
But I call it My Continent

Sunday 18 December 2016

Te Deum Laudamus - St Nicetas of Remisiana

We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.

Saturday 17 December 2016

My Wound made Ablution of Gaza's Blood - Najat Zbair

The universe is empty dragging its carnage
Darkness occupies the bewilderment of things

Friday 16 December 2016

Ol' Higue - Wordsworth McAndrew

Ol' woman wid de wrinkled skin,
Leh de ol' higue1 wuk begin.
Put on you fiery disguise,
Ol' woman wid de weary eyes
Shed you swizzly skin.

Thursday 15 December 2016

Missing - Lee Jang-wook

I was gradually delivered to you.
I was born outside of myself.

Wednesday 14 December 2016

Hazards Related to the Setting up of a Christmas Tree - Yong Shu Hoong

Today, I receive a circular with this warning:
As we celebrate the festive season, it is important
to be aware of the possible hazards…

Tuesday 13 December 2016

Drown - DK Osei-Yaw

I stand my ground
Yet it slips away;
My legs kick hard,
Yet bubbles betray;

Monday 12 December 2016

Urgent - Roberto Sosa

This afternoon a child, not even two years old,
got lost.
He’s got curls like ripples on a lake.
A pudgy little boy
with huge eyes
like a stray lamb.

Sunday 11 December 2016

None like you was ever seen or created - Imam Ahmad Raza

None like you was ever seen or created.
Authority stands in your person consummated.

Saturday 10 December 2016

OK, let’s be exiled! - Alemayehu Gebrehiwot

Yes, let’s be exiled,
far from our families,
our beloved country,
our villages, our rivers.

Friday 9 December 2016

I got accustomed to being tired - Maia Sarishvili

I got accustomed to being tired.
It’s like having a live wolf on my back
And feeling him there like a simple schoolbag.

Thursday 8 December 2016

Andha Lamaya - Sagara Palansuriya

They say, flowers are gorgeous and are of lovely shades
The things they speak of as they can see
I don’t understand, mother, so here I am to learn
Please explain to me, I don’t know these

Wednesday 7 December 2016

The Investigation - Din Mehmeti

In an ugly investigation
Our names were unveiled, pierced
By seven rusty nails.

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Lunar Park - Jean Delville

Becalmed the profane noise of the crowd.
Toward the risen Moon, the symbolic Bronzes
Curve, in the blue night, their antique nudity
In the sphinx-like majesty of attitudes.

Monday 5 December 2016

The sound of a silver bridle - Begziin Yavuuhulan

I’m waiting for my lover to arrive,
the sound of horses’ hooves pressed upon my heart.

Sunday 4 December 2016

Incarnate God, thou word divine - St Anselm

Incarnate God, thou word divine,
Both man art thou and God complete;
When as the Judge thou com'st, incline
To me, a man, thy mercy sweet.

Saturday 3 December 2016

Mother - Hadraawi

The world certainly
Would never have left night
Light not been found

Friday 2 December 2016

Silent trees - Bo Carpelan

Will an unknown hand raise the continents
and the song transfix the bird,

Thursday 1 December 2016

For a mythology of minor things - Humberto Quino

Like one who wrinkles an old shirt
&
Goes about naked in the old cinemas