In the face of an inscrutable, indifferent universe, Pessoa suggests we cultivate a certain longing for the elusive horizon Jonardon Ganeri In elusive point sits on the horizon. A deep yearning stirs within to move closer to this point, perhaps in search of the unknown, perhaps in search of questions without answers. It is a… Read More Solace and saudade
Song by KT Tunstall See out the side of my eyeA pick-pocket city in darknessBodies shifting, I am driftingThrough the sodium light Mind feels like an alarmHeat like it’s trying to harm meBody twitching, something missing in my soul tonight Scream of a sirenBow my head as another one goes downGotta get goneGotta get goneGotta… Read More The Mountain
A poem by Mary Oliver (b 1935) 1. Welcome to the silly, comforting poem. It is not the sunrise,which is a red rinse,which is flaring all over the eastern sky; it is not the rain falling out of the purse of God; it is not the blue helmet of the sky afterward, or the trees,… Read More Flare
Louise Pryke The world’s first known author is widely considered to be Enheduanna, a woman who lived in the 23rd century BCE in ancient Mesopotamia (approximately 2285 – 2250 BCE). Enheduanna is a remarkable figure: an ancient “triple threat”, she was a princess and a priestess as well as a writer and poet. The third… Read More Enheduanna, princess, priestess and the world’s first known author
An initiative by Kabir Project to take the power of the mystic song to children and young people, Shabad Shaala is coming to Delhi in partnership with Manzil Mystics. This is a chance for the youth of Delhi (15-30 years) to learn bhajans, kaafis and baul-gaan from the great gurus of folk tradition, and also engage in reflective and… Read More Shabad Shaala in Delhi : An Initiative by the Kabir Project
By Cormac Campbell The poet Michael Longley has said that the “complexities and difficulties of literature” must not be simplified to fit changing outlooks. He was speaking after an event in his honour at Armagh’s Robinson Library marking his Feltrinelli International Prize for Poetry last year. At the event the 83-year-old reprised the lecture he… Read More Michael Longley: Literature should not be changed to remove ‘complexities’
Mother of Cities to me / For I was born in her gate,Between the palms and the sea / Where the world-end steamers wait Rudyard Kipling, To the City of Bombay “Few people who have criticized England from the inside have said bitterer things about her than this gutter patriot”: George Orwell IT WAS a pity that Mr.… Read More On Rudyard Kipling: by George Orwell (1942)
Knowledge is a deadly friend / When no-one sets the rules The fate of all mankind I see / Is in the hands of fools. The wall on which the prophets wrote Is cracking at the seams. Upon the instruments of death The sunlight brightly gleams. When every man is torn apart With nightmares and… Read More King Crimson – Epitaph
Brian Ferry: Roxy Music Do I ever wonder?More than words can sayHeaven knows it’s hard enough to prayLet me tell you something There’s a change in meEven now you’re gone you’ll always beMy only loveDoes it seem so funny For a fool to cry?Do you know the meaning of goodbye?There’s a river flowingBy a willow… Read More My only love
कुँवर नारायण एक अजीब-सी मुश्किल में हूँ इन दिनों / मेरी भरपूर नफ़रत कर सकने की ताक़त / दिनोंदिन क्षीण पड़ती जा रही An uncanny paradox grips me these days / My capacity for fulsome hatred seems to be weakening every day अँग्रेज़ी से नफ़रत करना चाहता / जिन्होंने दो सदी हम पर राज किया… Read More एक अजीब-सी मुश्किल / My Uncanny Paradox
After the truth-shower 