Venice masks

Tuesday, 20 January 2026

Question and answer - Björnstjerne Björnson

The Child 
Father! Within the forest's bound 
No bird I found, 
No sound of song the woods around. 

Monday, 19 January 2026

Canto Nine - Tonino Guerra

It must have been raining a hundred days,
       and the water that saturated
the roots of all the plants
Reached the library and soaked all the holy words
which were closed up in the convent.

Sunday, 18 January 2026

All growth of the forest - Spervogel

All growth of the forest,
The deep-hidden gold,
All secret abysses,
Thine eye doth behold;

Saturday, 17 January 2026

Family Portraits - Anna Maria Lenngren

Upon an old estate, her father's heritage, 
A shrivelled countess dowager 
Had vegetated half an age; 

Friday, 16 January 2026

Refreshment - Mary Electa Adams

Hast thou had hours when life seemed empty all,
And waste the garden thou wert set to till,
Like tide-swept sands that only white and still
Unanswering lay beneath the heaven's gray pall?

Thursday, 15 January 2026

Path to the Huacas - Nora Alarcón

Route of the potato
life created
in the land of the morochucos
an offering to Apu Pariahunca
before the harvesting of the native potatoes

Wednesday, 14 January 2026

While unperishing love melted my bones - Manikkavacakar

While unperishing love melted my bones,
     I cried
I shouted again and again,

Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Blonde - Andrés Bello

Do you know, blonde, what favor I request
When I cover the altars with offerings?
Not rich furnishings, not superb lands,
Neither a table that flatters the appetite.

Monday, 12 January 2026

Sunday, 11 January 2026

On the Incarnation - Gregory of Nazianzus

Foolish who worships not th’ eternal Word 
as equal to the high Father in heaven. 
Foolish who worships not th’ incarnate Word, 
as equal to the heavenly Word on High, 
but cuts from Father’s might His Word, or else 
severs the Word from human shape, our breadth.