Venice masks

Saturday, 30 September 2023

The Heron Chase - Anastasius Grün

When spring again encircles the earth in her genial embrace,
There rides from the gates of Bruges a party for the chase;
Full many handsome falconers on shapely coursers ride,
And withal the beautiful duchess by her loving husband’s side.

Friday, 29 September 2023

The Desolate Star - Robin Hyde

Little winds of dawn come gently to them,
All the living stars, the other stars.

Thursday, 28 September 2023

My Husband's Tongue is Bitter (Song of Lawino - I) - Okot p' Bitek

Husband, now you despise me
Now you treat me with spite
find say I have inherited the stupidity of my aunt;

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

Aurora - D.A.M. Binnendijk

The night's metaphorical secret
Imbues me with but not a single rhyme
But it awakens the birds out of their nests

Tuesday, 26 September 2023

The Alien - Bishnu Dey

On either side the woods, in the middle the road
Gleamingly goes winding as nature beats the tune.

Sunday, 24 September 2023

Coarse the rush-mat roof - Tenchi Tenno

Coarse the rush-mat roof
Sheltering the harvest-hut

The Steam King - Edward P. Mead

There is a King, and a ruthless King;
Not a King of the poet’s dream;
But a tyrant fell, white slaves know well,
And that ruthless King is Steam.

Saturday, 23 September 2023

The Keening Of The Reed - Qassim Haddad

He put his paw in the lake
like one dipping a quill in a well of words…
He wasn't of reed,
nor has Love a thing to grant:
Among beasts there is no wolf worthy of the loneliness

Friday, 22 September 2023

An Arab Shepherd Is Searching For His Goat On Mount Zion - Yehuda Amichai

An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion
And on the opposite hill I am searching for my little boy.

Thursday, 21 September 2023

Yesterday - Bruce Levitan

These grey skies stretch like dirty washing
Enclosing the trampled ground,
Itself endlessly grey with rubble and detritus.

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

The Waif - A. C. Smith

He went into the bush, and passed
Out of the sight of living men,
None knows the nook that held him last,
None ever saw his face again.

Tuesday, 19 September 2023

You came to lean on a leaf from my body - Emilio Adolfo Westphalen

You came to lean on a leaf from my body
Sweet and heavy drop like the sun over our lives
You brought the scent of wood and the tenderness of a leaning stalk

Monday, 18 September 2023

Jaafer Ben Alba - On the Battle of Sabla

Sabla, thou saw'st th' exulting foe
In fancied triumphs crown'd; 
Thou heard'st their frantic females throw
These galling taunts around:

Sunday, 17 September 2023

Lord Jesus, give me shelter - Lina Sandell

Lord Jesus, give me shelter,
hide me beneath your wings.
You are my safe protection;
to you my spirit sings.

Saturday, 16 September 2023

Amin Kassam - Strangers Forever

Each of us 
is a passenger 
seated in one huge 
compartment 

Friday, 15 September 2023

African Thunderstorm - David Rubadiri

From the west
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning sharply
Here and there

Thursday, 14 September 2023

Epigram 9.312 - Diodorus Zonas

Refrain, sirrah, from cutting the oak, 
the mother of acorns; 

Wednesday, 13 September 2023

Draupadî's Remonstrance (The Hunter and the Hero - Book I) - Bhāravi

Sent in hermit's guise to spy
How Kuru's monarch ruled his men, 
A forester, his task performed,
Yudhishthir met in Dvaita's glen. 

Tuesday, 12 September 2023

Prometheus Unbound, 716-818 - Aeschylus

Well, since you are bent on this,
I will not refuse to proclaim all that you still crave to know.
First, to you, Io, will I declare your much-vexed wandering,
and may you engrave it on the recording tablets of your mind.

Monday, 11 September 2023

The Emmigrant's Adieu to Ballyshannon - William Allingham

Adieu to Ballyshannon! where I was bred and born; 
Go where I may, I'll think of you, as sure as night and morn; 
The kindly spot, the friendly town, where every one is known, 
And not a face in all the place but partly seems my own. 
There 's not a house or window, there 's not a field or hill, 
But, east or west, in foreign lands, I'll recollect them still. 
I leave my warm heart with you, though my back I'm forced to turn, — 
So adieu to Ballyshannon, and the winding banks of Erne! 

Sunday, 10 September 2023

Compassionate, You are the most merciful - Si Mohand ou-Mhand

Compassionate, You are the most merciful
Glory to You the Almighty
Master of countless crowds

Saturday, 9 September 2023

Close to Your Heart - José María Contursi

What a horrible night I’ve had!
Everything in my room is cold.
I owe it all to you, my love:
despair and weariness.

Friday, 8 September 2023

Like The Sun's Uprising Light - Burkhart of Hohenfels

Like the sun's uprising light
Shines that maid, before whom fade
Other charms, however bright;
As the stars at break of day,
Late so brilliant fade away.

Thursday, 7 September 2023

The Rainbow's End - Google Bard

The water falls, a thousand flecks of light,
And through the spray the rainbow's arch is thrown,
A bridge of colour spanning heaven and night,
A promise of the sun beyond the stone.

Wednesday, 6 September 2023

Song - Cahit Külebi

Your lips are red
Your hands are white
Take my hands, child,
Hold them a while.

Tuesday, 5 September 2023

The Girls of Llanbadarn - Dafydd ap Gwilym

I bow before this passion;
a plague on the parish girls!
Because, o force of longing,
I've never had one of thern!

Monday, 4 September 2023

Bosongo’s Dark Alleys - Onchoka Ongoro

That morning, as I walked to work
A lady who aired her wares in Bosongo’s dark alleys smiled at me