Venice masks

Wednesday 31 October 2018

Hallowe'en Failure - Carlyle Smith

Who's dat peekin' in de do'?
    Set mah heart a-beatin'!
Thought I see' a spook for sho
    On mah way to meetin'.
Heerd a rustlin' all aroun',
    Trees all sort o' jiggled;
An' along de frosty groun'
    Funny shadders wriggled.

Tuesday 30 October 2018

Monday 29 October 2018

After a Storm - E. B. Watermeyer

Morning has come upon us, — from the day
Has rolled each darkling cloud, the orient view
Unveils with gorgeous sun, and deep clear blue.

Sunday 28 October 2018

The Worshipper Complains of the Inequality of Lots - Rāmprasād Sen

Let us have a word or two about the problem of suffering
Let us talk about suffering, Tārā, let me express my mind

Saturday 27 October 2018

From the Groom of a Knight in Love - Aristaenetus

Epistle VIII
Echepolus to Melesippus

O! The grace, the art to rein
Fiery courfers round the plain!
See — yon valiant hero ride,
Skill'd with either hand to guide:
See how beautiful, and ftrong!

Friday 26 October 2018

The Garden at Mistrá - Ángelos Sikelianós

Ta-ýgetos! From peaks that gleam all icy with a silver beam,
Amid the breeze that ever blows both sure and soft from melting snows,
In downy golden years of youth, in dawn’s bright flash of flame,
The heavenly twins’ white horses and their matchless chariot came;
Set low between her brothers both a-tiptoe on the beam,
In gown immortal, flowing down, like water, Helen came!

Wednesday 24 October 2018

My Eyes Say - Anonymous

Although I cannot speak,
My eyes say everything.
My eyes see everything.

Tuesday 23 October 2018

Nairobi - Yusuf Adamu

A right-hand driving city
Of very patient drivers
Up in high altitude, devoid of heat

Monday 22 October 2018

The Child and the Candle - Allama Iqbal

O Child with moth-like nature, “How strange that
You keep gazing at the flame of the candle for hours

Wednesday 17 October 2018

Tuesday 16 October 2018

Psalm 121 - King David

I shall raise my eyes to the mountains,
      from where will my help come?
My help is from the Lord,
      the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to falter;
      Your Guardian will not slumber.

Monday 15 October 2018

stolen generation - Lee Emmett

'stolen generation'
is soft term for pain
suffered by indigenous
families ripped apart again

Sunday 14 October 2018

The end of being - Seneca

The end of being is to find out God!
And what is God? A vast almighty Power
Great and unlimited, whose potent will
Brings to achievement whatsoe'er He please.

Saturday 13 October 2018

Legends - Chaman Lall

The bronze of his body
Flashed through the marble hall

Friday 12 October 2018

We laughed when days were merry - Holger Drachmann

We laughed when days were merry
And spun joy’s thread for years,
Now we can shoulder bravely
A sprinkling of tears;

Thursday 11 October 2018

The Boy's Mother speaks - Cathal O’Byrne

If the Three Blisters of Disgrace were on his face,
      And his face is like the sun,
I would efface each trace from its place
      With my kisses, one by one!

Wednesday 10 October 2018

The day returns, my bosom burns - Robert Burns

The day returns, my bosom burns,
    The blissful day we twa did meet:
Tho' winter wild in tempest toil'd,
    Ne'er summer-sun was half sae sweet.

Tuesday 9 October 2018

Life - Emile Verhaeren

To see beauty in all, is to lift our own Soul
Up to loftier heights than do chose who aspire
Through culpable suffering, vanquished desire.
Harsh Reality, dread and ineffable Whole,
Distils her red draught, enough tonic and stern
To intoxicate heads and to make the heart burn.

Monday 8 October 2018

The cities - Gösta Ågren

The cities stand out against
the evening sky like inhabited
ruins. Mankind journeys
towards its goal through the evening’s
lingering ceremony. Europe

Sunday 7 October 2018

Suffer with Humility - Thomas à Kempis

When thou art oppressed with pain,
Think that 'tis no loss, but gain;

Saturday 6 October 2018

There Is Justice In The Jungle - Matur Achuil

In Maasai Mara live the lion and the gazelle
And both have all the rights to life
The lion has the right to kill and eat the gazelle
So that he can continue to live
While the gazelle has the right to run away from the lion
So that he can continue to live
A cut-throat competition with a win-win result
What is subtracted on one end is added on the other
There is justice in the jungle!

Friday 5 October 2018

A Familiar Dance - Bryan Thao Worra

I take you to dance
In your dress of blue.
Santana's black magic woman is playing tonight.

Thursday 4 October 2018

Song - Lenrie Peters

Clawed green-eyed
Feline of night
Palsy-breasted
Selling old boot
On wet pavement

Wednesday 3 October 2018

Chapter VIII - Abdellatif Al Ouarari

O those standing by decorating the squares of Egypt,
Peace .. Peace!
From your throats love blooms,
Ah .. just as fire in the soul and balconies:
As a miracle.

Tuesday 2 October 2018

Adieu! - Eleanor Elizabeth Montgomery

O shepherds! take my crook from me,
For I no longer here can stay!
There comes a whisper from the sea,
Calling my soul from you away;

Monday 1 October 2018

Medea at Night - Apollonius of Rhodes

'T was night, all earth in shadowy silence slept ;
Lone on the deck his watch the sailor kept,
And gazed, where shines Orion's belt on high,
Or the Great Bear bestrides the northern sky.