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poetry
If Sharks Were Men
Would they be nicer to the little fishes?
Enjoy an animated representation of one of Brecht’s most notable satirical fables.
With gems such as:
“If sharks were men, they would, of course, also wage wars against one another, in order to conquer other fish boxes and other little fish.”
and
“If sharks were men, there would, of course, also be art. There would be beautiful pictures, in which the sharks’ teeth would be portrayed in magnificent colors and their jaws as pure pleasure gardens, in which one could romp about splendidly. The theaters at the bottom of the sea would show heroic little fish swimming enthusiastically into the jaws of sharks, and the music would be so beautiful that to the accompaniment of its sounds, the orchestra leading the way, the little fish would stream dreamily into the sharks’ jaws, lulled by the most agreeable thoughts.”
The Covert Light of March
I’m out and about this week guys, exploring and wandering around a new city. Until I’m back and can tell you all about it, enjoy a little ode to March from master wordsmith Mr. Neruda.
‘March days return with their covert light’
March days return with their covert light,
and huge fish swim through the sky,
vague earthly vapours progress in secret,
things slip to silence one by one.
Through fortuity, at this crisis of errant skies,
you reunite the lives of the sea to that of fire,
grey lurchings of the ship of winter
to the form that love carved in the guitar.
O love, O rose soaked by mermaids and spume,
dancing flame that climbs the invisible stairway,
to waken the blood in insomnia’s labyrinth,
so that the waves can complete themselves in the sky,
the sea forget its cargoes and rages,
and the world fall into darkness’s nets.
– Pablo Neruda
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Bite-Sized Wisdom: Von Goethe
This German playwright breaks down an ideal way to spend the day. Funny how prescriptions from centuries gone by can still be entirely apt today.
“Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.”
– Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
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Surprising Benefits Hidden in a Cup of Tea
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Possibilitea
Levitea
and
How to Switch Hemispheres Without Ever Jumping on a Plane
I’m out and about this week guys, exploring and wandering around strange and wild lands. Until I’m back and can tell you all about it, enjoy the petit posts.
Because Hafiz’s poetry is always worth a listen:
All the Hemispheres
Leave the familiar for a while.
Let your senses and bodies stretch out
Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new water-mark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.
Change rooms in your mind for a day.
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.
All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.
– Hafiz
from ‘The Subject Tonight is Love’, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
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Words, Give Me Words
“In a poet’s pocket you often find the product of an active imagination”
– Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano has been and remains one of my favorite classics of the stage if for nothing else than it rejoices in wit and celebrates words. It places language on a pedestal and dances about it, gloriously flourishing pivotal moments with clever witticisms and elegant romantic passages. It reminds us to vary our vocabulary, to find millions of ways to express a familiar sentiment, to never tire of playing with vernacular, and to find the colors afforded by the combination of brilliantly combined phrases.
And if you weren’t convinced for any reason that Kevin Kline is an incredible actor, I urge you to check out his performance as the tireless poet himself.
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Spin Down With Me
Spin down with me – I long to get lost with you.
I crave a world apart, a respite
Away from the ever process of living, being.
Find me here in this quiet place.
We can wind ourselves through labyrinths
Of days preceeding, days unending
And sit amidst the mirrored maze,
Content to be bewildered.
Let’s take our hands, weary from waiting,
And carve out a cove of our own
Where heart song melodies drown out the siren’s song.
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