Venice masks

Saturday, 29 June 2019

Dreaming of the Mountain - Ayukawa Nobuo

It is the only place I will be able to return to.
It is the beginning and the end of nature.
The mountain of my homeland.
The village where my father was born is in the mountains,
the town where my mother was born is surrounded by mountains.
Always the sun and moon rise from the peak and set in the ridge.

Friday, 28 June 2019

Old Spookses' Pass - Isabella Valancy Crawford

I.
We'd camped that night on Yaller Bull Flat,--
     Thar was Possum Billy, an' Tom, an' me.
Right smart at throwin' a lariat
     Was them two fellers, as ever I see;
An' for ridin' a broncho, or argyin' squar
     With the devil roll'd up in the hide of a mule,
Them two fellers that camp'd with me thar
     Would hev made an' or'nary feller a fool.

Thursday, 27 June 2019

The Loreley - Heinrich Heine

I know not what evermore grieves me,
What makes me sorrow so:
A tale of old times never leaves me,
A tale of long ago.

Wednesday, 26 June 2019

+ANTINOUS+: A Poem - Fernando Pessoa

It rained outside right into Hadrian's soul.

The boy lay dead
On the low couch, on whose denuded whole,
To Hadrian's eyes, that at their seeing bled,
The shadowy light of Death's eclipse was shed.

Tuesday, 25 June 2019

The Star Wizard's Legacy - Vasko Popa

He left behind his words
Lovelier than the world
No one dares look at them

Monday, 24 June 2019

You Will Hear Thunder - Anna Akhmatova

You will hear thunder and remember me,
And think: she wanted storms. The rim
Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,
And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.

Sunday, 23 June 2019

The Nut Garden - Joseph Gikatilla

The Nut Garden holds things felt and thought,
and feeling for thought is always a palace —

Saturday, 22 June 2019

Too Lazy To Be Ambitious - Taigu Ryokan

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.

Friday, 21 June 2019

Summer Paintings in Europe - Floss M. Jay

Oh – and these are not paintings:

This shoulder of wheaten gold
tumbling across the low hill
susceptible to breeze and wind
as Van Gogh predicted.

Thursday, 20 June 2019