Tag astrology

* who we are & Yannis Ritsos

José Angel Araguz 1 Comment

Protection – Yannis Ritsos

The sky bends over us, responsible,
as our poem bends over the sadness of mankind,
as the sensitive, initiated eyelid bends over the eye,
protecting the pupil of the eye from the dust,
the improvised light, the hardly perceptible insects,
so that the eyes may open again forewarned and free,
each time the chance comes to view the miracle of germination
and to herald their smile to another.

* eye see what you mean *

* eye see what you mean *

Something about Yannis Ritsos I keep coming back to.  Perhaps it is the earthiness of what he writes about.  Above, you have a meditation on eyelids as I have never read before.   The tender eyelid as protective.  I mean, that is what it does, some part of me knew this – but this gives it back to me.

Cool.

Here’s another short dose of who we are.  The lyric below takes me to somewhere lonely through an indirect path – through an impossible image I am given very possible feelings.

*

Recollection – Yannis Ritsos

A warm aroma had remained on the armpits of her coat.
Her coat on the hanger in the hallway like a drawn curtain.
What was happening now was of another time.  The light altered faces,
all unfamiliar.  And if someone was about to enter the house,
that empty coat would lift its arms slowly, bitterly,
and silently shut the doors once more.

***

Happy shutting!

Jose

* juggling with Eduardo Galeano

José Angel Araguz 1 Comment

Update on the PhD front: First day of classes/First day of teaching is Monday, August 26th…my birthday!

That’s right: I’ll be up bright and early – as I have been most of this week, what with orientation and syllabustering like crazy.

Wish me luck.

On that note, expect the Influences to become a bit looser, and more informal while I juggle chainsaws students.

* wish me luck *

* wish me luck *

As I mentioned last week, my birthday has me asking questions.  Like: what would my friend Dennis – who passed away three summers ago – think of where I am headed?  He told me once during a bout of undergrad existential angst: Get it together – only women can freak out AND still get things done.  You can freak out later.

The prose poem below by Eduardo Galeano speaks to how that good man stood (stands) in my life.

***

Grandparents – Eduardo Galeano

For many peoples of black Africa, ancestors are the spirits that live in the tree beside your house or in the cow grazing in the field.  The great-grandfather of your great-great-grandfather is now that stream snaking down the mountainside.  Your ancestor could also be any spirit that decides to accompany you on your voyage through the world, even if he or she was never a relative or an acquaintance.

The family has no borders, explains Soboufu Some of the Dagara people: “Our children have many mothers and many fathers.  As many as they wish.”

And the ancestral spirits, the ones that help you make your way, are the many grandparents that each of you has.  As many as you wish.

***

Happy freaking out later!

Jose