taken to a field
after Ayotzinapa
& fed with metal bumblebees
i was never there
only dim rumors reveal
what the cartel killers did
Going Against the Current.
"TRISTIA
I have learned the art of departure
In loose-haired lamentations of the night.
The oxen chew, the waiting continues –
It is the last hour of the city watch.
And I honor the ritual of that darkness
When, bearing up the sorrow of the road,
Tearful eyes looked into the distance
And a woman's tears mixed with the muses' song.
Who can say, when hearing the word 'departure,'
What kind of separation we have in store?
What does the rooster’s cry foretoken
When a fire burns in the acropolis?
And at the dawn of some new life,
While an ox lazily chews its cud in the stall,
Why does the rooster, herald of a new life,
Beat his wings on the city wall?
And I admire the habitude of spinning –
The shuttle whirrs, the spindle hums –
Look, here comes barefoot Delia already,
Flying at us as swansdown flies!
Oh, our life’s meager foundation,
How scanty is the language of joy!
All has already been, and all shall be repeated,
And only the moment of recognition is sweet.
Let it be so: a small transparent figure
Lies on a spotless platter of clay –
Even so a squirrel pelt looks spread-eagled.
A maiden leans over it and studies the wax.
It is not for us to tell fortunes about Erebus.
What wax is to women, bronze is to men.
Our lot is cast for us only in battle,
While they in fortune-telling meet their end."
--Bernstein's Mandelstam
"But most of the time, I found Duncan's embrace of the mythic and vatic embarrassing where it wasn't incomprehensible." (via green integer blog )
"If you do love me
as I wish you to, then will
you choose to follow me down?"
"Baby, your question’s
built upon a false premise;
so I ain’t goin’ nowhere."
My fruit basket filled,I head back through shady woods,satiated with blooms and bees.
A heart-stopping glimpse,a fuchsia and scarlet burstholds me like a spider’s web.
~~~
With this sedoka, I recall that just when I think I’ve seen everything, nature comes up with a surprise. The fruit of the American strawberry bush (aka hearts-a-bustin’) is toxic to humans. (photo by Alvaro Ibañez)