Venice masks

Friday 31 March 2017

Who? - Anne Udui

Who are they to come to our isle
      to change the machas to their "so-called"
      style?

Thursday 30 March 2017

The Moon and Spring - Teresa Colom

we don’t write about death only about life

the dead do not write

Wednesday 29 March 2017

A beautiful prayer - Joanne Gobure

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away,
but for you to give it up.

Tuesday 28 March 2017

The Gull - Michael Donhauser

She’s stuck on her legs, sticking to her legs, and ducked down is how she carries her head, tucked into her feathers, turns her beak, a kind of needle, towards the wind.

Monday 27 March 2017

Luxembourg 1939 - Léopold Sédar Senghor

This Luxembourg morning, this Luxembourg autumn,
As I walk back and forth upon my youth,
No strollers, no fountains, no boats in the water,
No children, no flowers.

Sunday 26 March 2017

Saturday 25 March 2017

The one I saw again - Jean Portante

                    The one I saw again
two days ago kept sewing
the same wound up again:

Friday 24 March 2017

I’m Scared! - Adamou Idé

I’m scared!
 Yes, I do not conceal it from you
 I say it: I’m scared!

Thursday 23 March 2017

Weaving - Cresantia Frances Koya-Vaka‘uta

                              Pacific               Women                 Weave
Weaving               woven                 patterns
                                     Pictures                in the                     loom of life
Mosaics                 of culture              and family

Wednesday 22 March 2017

The Lusiad (extract from Book V: Madeira) - Luís Vas de Camões

Nam'd from her woods, with fragrant bowers adorn'd,
From fair Madeira's purple coast we turn'd:

Sunday 12 March 2017

The Christ-child - St Gregory of Narek

The lips of the Christ-child are like to twin leaves;
They let roses fall when he smiles tenderly.

Friday 10 March 2017

The Young Wife's Dream - Siamanto

Year after year, sitting alone at my window,
I gaze on thy path, my pilgrim heart-mate,
And by this writing I wish once more to sing
The tremors of my body and mind, left without a guardian.

Thursday 9 March 2017

I did not find Masood - Rua Salem

I did not find Masood
Or the shop.
Nor did I find my uncle.

Wednesday 8 March 2017

The ghetto - Barnabé Laye

You are in the ghetto, my brother
You are in the ghetto.

Tuesday 7 March 2017

The Mountain Wreath - Petar II Petrović-Njegoš

Montenegrins, do you see this wonder?
Fifty full years I've spun of my life's yarn.

Monday 6 March 2017

A Nightingale in the Cage of My Breast - Farzaneh Khojandi

In this leafy orchard is a nightingale,
a nightingale whose songs are the dawn
and take me into the light,
to the mountains of legendary Farhad,

Saturday 4 March 2017

To be a girl - Raghda Gamal

You never thought that someday
You'll wish to know
What it's like to he a girl...

Friday 3 March 2017

A Monkey at the Window - Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi

I
The little boy, playing in bed
while his wounded mother cooks,
is throwing little words and circles
out of the window.

Thursday 2 March 2017

In Search of - Magtymguly Pyragy

My country is Etrek, my people are Goklen,
I am in search of love,
My soul is filled with turbulence,
I am in search of the Sufi leader to bless me with power.

Wednesday 1 March 2017

Tiris - Ali Salem Iselmu

If you ever come
to a wide, white land
dotted with towering black statues