Venice masks

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Lay she naked in the sea - Anonymous

Lay she naked in the sea
All the salt would sweetened be.
Showed she in the sunset West
Eastward-praying Christian even
Would look back and think it best
So to gaze and lose his heaven.

Tuesday 30 January 2024

I Saw Her Wandering - Francisco Pérez Perdomo

I saw her wandering 
amid the trees that swayed 
and fanned her pale beauty 

Monday 29 January 2024

O lovely maid! - Bessiki

O lovely maid, all splendours fade before thy grace!
Soft ringlets deck thy ivory neck and godlike face.
In dreams I kiss thy lips, and bliss my bosom sways.
O radiant eyes, sweet heaven lies beneath your gaze!
Forget me ne'er, O maiden fair of sunlike rays!

Sunday 28 January 2024

Praise compared to vapour drawn upwards, and then descending in rain - Jalal al-Din Rumi

Though water be enclosed in a reservoir,
Yet air will absorb it, for 'tis its supporter;
It sets it free and bears it to its source,
Little by little, so that you see not the process.

Friday 26 January 2024

Dilemma - Emmanuel Monychol

Walking by the riverside, 
Imagining dark eyes, 
Tiny fish in Blue Ocean, 
Crocodiles struggling to feed, 
Hippos in the deep, 

Thursday 25 January 2024

Three dimensions - José Craveirinha

In the cabin …
the god of the machine
in cap and overalls
holds in his hand the secret of the pistons.

Wednesday 24 January 2024

Jacaranda Crown - Zvisinei C. Sandi

In the burning heat of September
Amid the rank smell of garbage
Anger, the acrid smoke of racing cars
The Jacaranda, a glorious royal crown, blooms
A lavender crown over the Sunshine City

Tuesday 23 January 2024

The singer - Anonymous

The singer 
And player.

The sanctified day 
Begins

Monday 22 January 2024

Sunday 21 January 2024

A Reminder to Myself - Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

At the feet of the father guru, I pay homage.
Embrace me at all times with compassion!

This body, a borrowed house of the four elements,
Does not last beyond a moment but swiftly perishes.
Life is as impermanent as a dewdrop upon the grass.
The enemy, the ferocious, demonic Lord of Death,
Waits before me even now, ready to receive me.

Saturday 20 January 2024

The Rowers - Sudesh Mishra

Inclement weather. We’re rowing between two rocks
For a third which is palpable yet unreachable.

Friday 19 January 2024

The sculpture - Aminur Rahman

From the mist's dense cape
I carve your body's shape --
gendy sculpting, all morning.

Thursday 18 January 2024

Description of the Trees Beside an Unseen Reservoir - Ibrahim Sharif

misty dew hangs amongst the trees
that stand outside, by the reservoir
a little ocean in the middle of the ground,

Wednesday 17 January 2024

Night settles on this mountain village - Ch'ŏn'gum

Night settles on this mountain village;
a dog barks way over there.

Tuesday 16 January 2024

His robe was white like milk - Abu Nuwas

His robe was white like milk,
His eyes love-heavy underneath blue lids.
His cheeks the shadow of wine-coloured silk 
Thrown upon snow.

Sunday 14 January 2024

The Coming Judgment of the Wicked - Anonymous

The First Parable.

When the congregation of the righteous shall appear,
And sinners shall be judged for their sins,
And shall be driven from the face of the earth:

Saturday 13 January 2024

True Riches - Hesiod

Far richer he who dines on simple herbs,
And knows the sweet delight of perfect health,

Friday 12 January 2024

Mirage - Ferdinand Freiligrath

All o’er the harbor gay with flags my restless eyes a-wandering go;
But thine, with laughing glances, seek the plume that droops across my brow!
“Fain of thy deserts I would hear, while waves are gurgling round the boat;
Come, paint me something of the land from whence that ostrich tuft was brought!”

Thursday 11 January 2024

Why, impious Herod - Coelius Sedulius

Why, impious Herod, shouldst thou fear
Because the Christ is come so near?
He who doth heavenly kingdoms grant
Thine earthly realm can never want.

Saturday 6 January 2024

Mailman - Buland al-Haidari

O mailman,
What is your desire of me?
I am far removed from the world,

Friday 5 January 2024

Kuokkala - Benedikt Livshits

Roses in silken bouillon:
Opening onto the azure silk
A line of cabins on a yellow bed -
Shells of Aphrodite.

Thursday 4 January 2024

She - Bedros Tourian

Were not the rose’s hue like that which glows
On her soft cheek, who would esteem the rose?

Tuesday 2 January 2024

When I want a shapeful dream - Balkrishna Sama

When I want a shapeful dream I write poetry,
And when I want a dreamlike shape I paint;
When I want you to speak to me I write poetry,
And when I want you to smile with me I paint;

Monday 1 January 2024

The New Year - Anonymous

I am the little New Year, ho, ho! 
Here I come tripping it over the snow.
Shaking my bells with a merry din –
So open your doors and let me in!