Venice masks

Monday 31 August 2020

Freedom has Hands - Oktay Rifat

Proudly they were running, our horses
Toward the calm sea

Sunday 30 August 2020

Wake, wake, I pray thee, shrill-toned lyre - Synesius

Wake, wake, I pray thee, shrill-toned lyre!
No more to fan the Teïan fire,
No more the Lesbian strain to raise,
Wake, wake to hymn of nobler praise!

Saturday 29 August 2020

The Bird of Hope - Luis Enrique Belmonte

They marked the door with knife stabs,
belched out our names,
      spit on the mailboxes,
threw sulfur in the garden.

Friday 28 August 2020

Agar - Liyou Libsekal

I remember a yellow scarf fashioned every which way and beautiful bones that peaked at the cheeks.
Mounted proud “young mother” in  eyes mourning a daughter left behind

Thursday 27 August 2020

Laconic - Sohini Basak

Not everyone will respond to whistling; take the collared dove
I tried to talk to this morning while checking if my socks
were still wet on the clothesline. I said hello to which
the dove paid no notice, her speckled plumes shining

Wednesday 26 August 2020

It's beautiful when - Dan Sociu

How sad and beautiful man is when he’s wrong
about the world (and maybe he’ll never
know), like the cat driven mad
by the shining of a knife on the wall.

Tuesday 25 August 2020

Day - Olga Khvostova

Why do you, arriving at the sea, sit by the river
of time, washing your feet in it, crushing your brains,
turning your hooked nose up to the sky?

Monday 24 August 2020

Mountains/3 - José Manuel Arango

1
With a glass in my hand, looking at the mountains,
I caress the back of my dog.

Sunday 23 August 2020

I lift my hands, and with my heart - Anonymous

I lift my hands, and with my heart,
My prayer ascends to Thee;
In mercy take a sinner’s part,
Lord, send Thy help to me.

Saturday 22 August 2020

The Korathy's Lullaby - T. Ramakrishna

Stay, darling, stay—'tis only for an hour,
And you will be the fairest of the fair.
Your lotus eyes can soothe the savage beast,
Your lips are like the newly blossomed rose,
Your teeth—they shine like pearls; but what are they
Before the beauties of my handiwork?

Friday 21 August 2020

From the Forest - Avrom Sutzkever

Of grass and flowers, the substance dissolves
Into drops of dew.
And he who wants can see
The subtle play
Of black and fire, silver and blue.

Thursday 20 August 2020

The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God - J. Milton Hayes

There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
There’s a little marble cross below the town;
There’s a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.

Wednesday 19 August 2020

Genesis Book III - Cædmon

The day departed,
hasting over the dwellings of earth.
And after the gleaming light the Lord, our maker,
thrust on the first of evenings.

Thursday 13 August 2020

Fogland - Ingeborg Bachmann

In winter my lover thrives
among the forest creatures.
The laughing fox knows I must return
before morning.
How the clouds tremble! And a layer
of broken ice falls on me
from the snow craters.

Tuesday 11 August 2020

Returning to the Fields - Tao Yuanming

When I was young, I was out of tune with the herd:
My only love was for the hills and mountains.
Unwitting I fell into the Web of the World’s dust
And was not free until my thirtieth year.

Sunday 9 August 2020

Happy Solitude—Unhappy Men - Madame Guyon

My heart is easy, and my burden light;
I smile, though sad, when thou art in my sight:

Saturday 8 August 2020

Mango Trees - Christian Benitez

Sunset mangoes
hang perpetually, the naked
boughs arching
like a mother’s hand.

Friday 7 August 2020

The bus song - Ziad Rahbani

By the roar of the bus we travelled
from the village of Himlaya to the village of Tannurin
and I remembered you, Alia
and remembered your eyes
and God forgive you, Alia
what beautiful eyes you have.

Thursday 6 August 2020

A Banquet Song - Alcæus of Mytilene

The rain of Zeus descends, and from high heaven
          A storm is driven:

Wednesday 5 August 2020

A True Story of Daily Life - Hans Manz

My next-door neighbour,
a Chinese guy from Hong Kong,
sweeps, whenever he reaches for his broom,

Tuesday 4 August 2020

A Parrot in a Cage (Pinjarako Suga) - Lekhnath Paudyal

A pitiful, twice-born* child called parrot,
I have been trapped in a cage,
Even in my dreams, Lord Shiva,
I find not a grain of peace or rest.

Monday 3 August 2020

Sunday 2 August 2020

Saturday 1 August 2020

Inaugurating The Garden - Forugh Farrokhzad

The crow that soared
above our heads and plunged
into a vagrant cloud’s restless thoughts,
its voice a short spear travelling horizon’s length,
will carry the news of us to town.