Venice masks

Sunday 31 March 2019

Layla - Ahmad al-Alawi

Full near I came unto where dwelleth
Layla, when I heard her call.
That voice, would I might ever hear it!

Saturday 30 March 2019

The Song of the Thrush - Rhys Goch ap Rhiccert

I gave ear, in the shade
By a mighty oak made,
To the soft warbled words
Of the wild forest birds;
Till all fell a-hush,
When the voice of the thrush
Sent forth a sally
Of song through the valley.
Most exquisite
Was the transport of it!

Friday 29 March 2019

The Blood of Fruits - Kushal Poddar

Sometimes I think I grew a taste
for the dead. Did you hear
the tale of young ones buried
for the sake of fecundity,

Thursday 28 March 2019

A Scandal On The Head - Kwesi Brew

The broken bone cannot be made whole
The strong have sheltered in their strength
The swift have sought life in their speed
The cripple and the tired heaped out of the way onto the ant hills
Had been, bit by bit, half eaten by termites

Wednesday 27 March 2019

Announcements - Brian Bilston

We would like to apologise for the delay.
This is due to the wrong kind of deal,
which indeed is any kind of deal
that might make your forward journey possible
at this time.

Tuesday 26 March 2019

In a Dilapidated House - Ayukawa Nobuo

The wind blew hard that day
just after keichitsu1
the Eastern and Southern windows
made sounds one after the other
the door opened and closed…

Monday 25 March 2019

Ngak - Val Sengebau

I took my leave from my beloved land
Suffocated with deep emotional turbulence

Sunday 24 March 2019

Cry Hari - Jnāneśvar

Stand at the door of God
One moment nigh,—
Thou hast the fourfold bliss
Obtained thereby.

Saturday 23 March 2019

My Country- My Maldives - Aminath Neena

The beauty of splashing waves
Caress my homeland
Loving the stretch of white gold
Pure and innocent motherland

Friday 22 March 2019

Octagonal Howl Poem - Rita Valdivia

In the cawing of my night
more drawn out than a thought
compacted by the atmosphere;
desires curdle like some vital sustenance
raped by air.

Thursday 21 March 2019

Foreword to the Fables - Ignacy Krasicki

There was once a young man whose temperance never flagged;
There was an old man, too, who never scolded or nagged;

Wednesday 20 March 2019

O, Land of the Free - Samuel Alfred Haynes

O, Land of the Free by the Carib Sea,
Our manhood we pledge to thy liberty!
No tyrants here linger, despots must flee
This tranquil haven of democracy.
The blood of our sires which hallows the sod,
Brought freedom from slavery, oppression's rod
By the might of truth, and the grace of God,
No longer shall we be hewers of wood.

Tuesday 19 March 2019

A pretty tale of Pakistan - N.V. Thadani

A pretty tale of Pakistan —
Shadow of a dream of dawn,
Seen by a Poet on the lawn
Of pleasant mount, by pleasant sea!

Monday 18 March 2019

The Boast - Hywel ab Owain

A white-topped wave is washing ever
The Royal grave of Rhufawn Bevr;
    There lies the Land I love and England loathes,
Right rich the growths her sickles sever.

Sunday 17 March 2019

An Even-song - St. Patrick

May Thy holy angels, O Christ, son of living God,
Guard our sleep, our rest, our shining bed.

Saturday 16 March 2019

The Bonny Moor Hen - Anonymous

You brave lads of Weardale, I pray lend an ear
The account of a battle you quickly shall hear,
That was fought by the miners, so well you may ken
By claiming a right to the bonny moor hen.

Saturday 9 March 2019

The Republic of Power - Alfonso Hernández

Every year the dictator makes a speech to the multitudes
from his pragmatic throne – Peace Love Justice –
(as if history were an expedient of his base passions).

Friday 8 March 2019

Arriving shortly - K. Srilata

When amma came
to New York City,
she wore unfashionably cut
salwar kurtas,
mostly in beige,
so as to blend in,

Thursday 7 March 2019

My Chosen One - Hywel ab Owain

My Chosen One is tall and lissome,
Purple her cloak as heather blossom;
      My chosen joy it is to watch her face,
When thoughts of grace breathe from her bosom.

Wednesday 6 March 2019

do not fear heights - Yu Yoyo

taking a cigarette out onto the balcony to jump off the building
or taking the thought of
jumping off the building
out onto the balcony to smoke a cigarette

Tuesday 5 March 2019

Monday 4 March 2019

With a pure heart - Attila József

Without father without mother
without God or homeland either
without crib or coffin-cover
without kisses or a lover

Sunday 3 March 2019

The Sign - Vladimir Solovyov

One, forever one! Though in the sleeping temple
There is a hellish glow in the darkness, and thunder in the midst of the stillness,—

Saturday 2 March 2019

I Am the Night - Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger

I am the night. My veils are much softer
Than the white of death's dark vale.
All burning pain do I cool
In my blackened boat under sail.

Friday 1 March 2019

The Prophecy - Taliesin

               A dragon fire-breathing,
               In horrid coils wreathing
Shall fly from the East with armed pinions outspread,