Venice masks

Wednesday 31 January 2018

Supplications - Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh

My God...
I seek refuge in you from the evil of myself,
From the evil of my people,
Form the evil of my good friends,
From the evil of my enemies who are poor of love,
From the evil of what the panegyrists had written,
And from the evils of what the spitfulls had written.

Tuesday 30 January 2018

All that Flesh and Fat - Anat Zecharia

All that flesh and fat, the coffee and the muffins
sunflower seeds in Atlantic sea salt,
all those matching items, the pillows
with tiger-head drawings.

Sunday 28 January 2018

The wingèd herald of the day - Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

The wingèd herald of the day
Proclaims the morn’s approaching ray:
And Christ the Lord our souls excites,
And so to endless life invites.

Saturday 27 January 2018

Tagalakoy - Adamou Idé

She comes from far away
Tagalakoy
She walks barefoot
Tagalakoy
She braves the heat
Tagalakoy
She comes from far away
She braves hunger
Tagalakoy

Friday 26 January 2018

If I were a little bird - Saacha Dorji

If I were a little bird,
How glad I would be,
To fly at will everywhere;
As far as the eye can see,
I’d fly.

Thursday 25 January 2018

Upon Arriving at Yangleshö - Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok

O Mañjuśrī, brave hero, all Conquerors’ activities gathered in one,
Dwell in my heart’s centre, the youthful vase body’s expanse,
And let mind lineage’s1 realisation descend with great power,
Bringing blessings of supreme wisdom’s light!

Wednesday 24 January 2018

I would like to take a walk in the wood - Marie Nervat

I would like to take a walk in the wood;
I would have a big hat and a flowing robe.
I would be carried away on the breeze and the light,
And you would take me again on your arm.

Tuesday 23 January 2018

I Am the Rain - Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger

I am the rain and I pass
Barefoot from land to land.
The wind plays in my hair
With a brown and slender hand.

Sunday 21 January 2018

Thou bounteous Giver of the light - St. Hilary

Thou bounteous Giver of the light,
All-glorious, in whose light serene,
Now that the night has pass'd away.
The day pours back her sunny sheen,

Saturday 20 January 2018

I'm sorry I am not a beast - Aleksandr Ivanovich Vvedensky

I'm sorry I am not a beast,
running along a blue road,
telling itself believe,
and the other self wait a bit,
we will go out with myself for a walk in the woods
to examine trifling leaves.

Thursday 18 January 2018

Proem - Elias Lönnrot

Mastered by desire impulsive,
By a mighty inward urging,
I am ready now for singing,
Ready to begin the chanting
Of our nation's ancient folk-song
Handed down from by-gone ages.

Wednesday 17 January 2018

Dawn - Antanas Strazdas

Arisen, arisen.
The morning star is up.
The cock begins to crow.

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Monday 15 January 2018

Broken Pines - Rainis

The towering pines near sea shore sands
The wind has broken with ruthless hands
They see the bright future they long to defend
Refusing concealment and scorning to bend:

Sunday 14 January 2018

Come, Saviour, Jesus, from above - Antoinette Bourignon

Come, Saviour, Jesus, from above,
Assist me with Thy heavenly grace;
Empty my heart of earthly love,
And for Thyself prepare the place.

Saturday 13 January 2018

To a Lady weeping - Ebn Alrumi

When I beheld thy blue eye shine
Thro' the bright drop that pity drew,
I saw beneath those tears of thine
A blue-eyed violet bath'd in dew.

Friday 12 January 2018

Wedding - Mahmood Jamal

Women weep, sisters and mothers weep
knowing what partings mean
knowing the meaning of playing a part
knowing the truth
of distances, dreams and men.

Thursday 11 January 2018

Quatrain by Sri Praj

True my every vow                   to thee
As a jewel would be                 set high

Wednesday 10 January 2018

I Take My Leave of You - Džore Držić

I do, my love, take leave of you, may God's good grace go with us both;
                I wish that you could only know by sobs and tears and grief,
                                                                                          my love!

Tuesday 9 January 2018

The exile to the swallow - Archbishop Khorene Nar Bey de Lusignan

O swallow, swallow, was it thine,
This nest, all cold and drear,
That empty in this niche I found
When first I entered here?
At sight of it mine eyes o’erflowed
With bitter teardrops, born
Of the sad thought that my nest too
Lies empty and forlorn.

Monday 8 January 2018

Brush-fire - Tchicaya U Tam’si

The fire the river that's to say
the sea to drink following the sand

Sunday 7 January 2018

Virgin of virgins - St Anselm

Virgin of virgins, Mary mild,
     Redemption's white and shining gate,
Salvation's portal undefiled,
     Help by thy prayers our lowly state.

Saturday 6 January 2018

Rome - Francisco de Quevedo

Amid these scenes, O pilgrim, seek’st thou Rome?
Vain is thy search,—the pomp of Rome is fled!

Friday 5 January 2018

Cynthia Bathing - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim

From her fair limbs the last thin veil she drew,
  And naked stood in all her charms confess’d,

Thursday 4 January 2018

In the Trenches - Maurice Hewlett

As I lay in the trenches
Under the Hunter’s Moon,
My mind ran to the lenches
Cut in a Wiltshire down.

Wednesday 3 January 2018

Splendid and Terrible - Seamus O'Sullivan

Splendid and terrible your love.
The searing pinions of its flight

Tuesday 2 January 2018

The Conscript - George Cosbuc

I.
Down there in the prairie
Met two brothers from the army.
Said one brother to the other:
“Take this saddle from my horse
And strike me on the head!
What shall we two do at home?
Mother, father, both are dead;
The cattle have grown old in the stable—
Where the house stood, all is grass.”

Monday 1 January 2018

Departure - W. Wilfred Campbell

Old house now ruined, wrecked and gray,
    Home once enshrined of love's delight
And all glad promise of the May,
    Now hushed in shades of wintry night:—