Venice masks

Thursday 30 June 2022

Communication - Yury Zavadsky

Surprising how feelings depend on blood pressure.
Electricity in my body prevents me from staying put.
And, still, I force myself not to move.

Wednesday 29 June 2022

Nose - Alaíde Foppa

It's practically 
an appendage
to the face's 
serene geometry,

Tuesday 28 June 2022

Position - Léon Damas

For  J.D.

The days themselves
have taken on the shape
of African masks

Monday 27 June 2022

To my generation - Roberto Armijo

To Roque, to Argueta, to Cea, to Quijada Urias

In what station hotel
will our shadows touch the lips of the abyss
and stretched but on the iron bed
the flames of hell fall
in waves on our bodies

Sunday 26 June 2022

Saturday 25 June 2022

Police Report - Alzira Rufino

The black woman is not stopped
by this brutish thing
by this lukewarm discrimination

Friday 24 June 2022

I want to be one with you in the water - María Soledad Quiroga

I want to be one with you in the water
to feel in transparency
the body's weight,

Thursday 23 June 2022

Magic in the Moonlight - Edney Cain

There is magic in the moonlight
Where the breezes softly sigh;
There is wonder in the whisper
Spoken in your eye.

Wednesday 22 June 2022

A Window in Winter - Sandro Chiri

Through this window
I have seen the rain and snow,
my distant children, an envious
scowl and, far away, a letter
from God on the ground ripped to shreds.

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Fixed Stars - José Asunción Silva

When the soul
Has broken from the body
And sleeps in the tomb’s night,
Longer than any other,

Monday 20 June 2022

Wait - Gladys Carmagnola

The Southern Cross comes to our appointment
every night, without fail.

Sunday 19 June 2022

Speaking of Gabriel - Rosario Castellanos

Like all visitors my son disturbed me,
taking a place that was my place,
existing unpropitiously,
making me divide every mouthful in two.

Saturday 18 June 2022

Sin - Carlos Bahr

I know not
whether this is forbidden;
if there’ll be forgiveness;
or if I’ll be carried to the brink of the abyss.
All that I know:
This is Love.

Friday 17 June 2022

Pregonera by José Rótulo

Blonde and ivory princess, she was queen
of my idealistic youthful dreams:
the one who peddled flowers
on an April day,

Thursday 16 June 2022

Portrait of a Water Trough - Togara Muzanenhamo

It was here the old man drank and wiped his mouth,
cupped the cool water and bathed his face with a deep
exhale – his smooth balding scalp shining beneath
the sun like polished soapstone. The day had been long,
the search forlorn, whistling and clicking his tongue,
a small sack of boiled sweet potatoes slung back over

Wednesday 15 June 2022

Love - Charles Mwewa

        I long, long                              truly for you
    I miss you,                                     and it is true

Tuesday 14 June 2022

Tishuash - Badi

All that has been has gone,
(how great the living and everlasting God!)
but how beautiful this scene is!

Monday 13 June 2022

My Home - Mulumba Matia

This is my home Uganda.
This is the land for me.
This is the place where my heart is at rest.
This is the land for all that is the best.
Here I am alive and free.

Sunday 12 June 2022

Grain of Beauty - Mansour M'henni

Hello! Grain of beauty
Waking at the fountain
Filled with the valley
Splitting the plain

Friday 10 June 2022

The fate of women - Djeri Wapondi

Woman, I dream of you naked
I dream of your pretty body sculpted in the perfection of a dream
Despite this pretty and beautiful body,
Why is this world made like this
And why isn't it perfect?

Thursday 9 June 2022

Delinquent Flower - Neema Komba

Sometime ago,
Someone somewhere saw you
Soar above the grass
Sway in a light breeze 
Graceful and elegant
Like a giraffe. 

Wednesday 8 June 2022

Butterflies of Meaning - Laila Neihoum

A poet's horizon
Is filled with butterflies
That’s Afaf
And Sakina, sending
her early morning messages
to my sleepy day,

Tuesday 7 June 2022

I won’t bow my head for anyone - Stephen Ciec Lam

My brown ox has grown old like Wunbiel’s ox.
This dark ox has grown old like Wunbiel’s ox,
like the brown ox of my grandfather,
like Luanglei’s ox.

Monday 6 June 2022

Glory Days - Bai T. Moore

wandered in the moonlit night
to view the glory of the past

Sunday 5 June 2022

Peace - Nyalunjoch mai Gatwech

Peace is a world without guns and bombs
Peace is world without locks and alarms
Peace is fresh water flowing down rivers and streams
Peace is sleeping without bad dreams

Saturday 4 June 2022

Memory - Tumello Motabola

The difference between a mountain and a ridge is in the way our bodies can sometimes press at night, the loneliness of the Caprivi
stretched in front of us like a sterile thumb. When we ran out of words,
choosing to communicate with memory, renaming every part of this town.

Friday 3 June 2022

Thursday 2 June 2022

Utendi (The Book of Mwana Kupona) stanzas 12-21 - Mwana Kupona

12
The first thing is to hold fast to your religion,
not rejecting the ordinances and obligations of God,
and when possible it is your duty to follow the Traditions,
it is a must you obey.

Wednesday 1 June 2022

Bitter and Sweet - Qaasim

Consider the aloe – how bitter is its taste!
Yet sometimes there wells up a sap so sweet
That it seems like honey in your mouth.