Lola Ridge (1873-1941) was an Irish born American poet who wrote about the immigrant communities in early 20th century America. She wrote both as an outsider (writing about other ethnicities) and as one who shared the experience of being displaced and shifted. This poem is from The Ghetto and Other Poems, published around 1920. THE FIDDLER In a little Hungarian cafe Men and women are drinking Yellow wine in tall goblets. Through the milky haze of the smoke, The fiddler, under-sized, blond, Leans to his violin As to the breast of a woman. Red hair kindles to fire On the …
Oh, lay my ashes on the wind That blows across the sea. And I shall meet a fisherman Out of Capri, And he will say, seeing me, “What a Strange Thing! Like a fish’s scale or a Butterfly’s wing.” — Edna St. Vincent Milay
A couple of weeks ago, in my little rant about leaving the war to the warbloggers I mentioned something about wanting to pursue to purposeful exploration of beauty as my gesture of peace in the world. Since then, I have really been looking for some kind of manifesto to hang a renewed blog practice on, and today I found it, serendipitously, as always. In this article in today’s Globe and Mail [link rot warning], the architects Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind visit the University of Toronto to provide advice to graduate students. In dispensing advice, the sages held nothing back, …
From a talk given by Palden Gyatso, the second-longest serving political prisoner in Tibet: Despite the torture while in prison, Gyatso said he does not hold any grudges against the Chinese, even those who tortured him. “According to Buddhist philosophy, it behooves me to control my anger. Being angry will not return my 33 years; they are spent. To educate in a nonviolent, constructive manner, that might bring a peaceful end,” he said. Gyatso said advocates for a free Tibet hope for constructive negotiations with Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao in June when they will ask for Tibet to become …
The Physics of Space Gardens A tiny bubble of air hangs suspended inside a droplet of water. The droplet rests in the cup of a delicate green leaf, yet the stalk doesn’t bend at all. Courtesy of NASA