@animus-inviolabilis / animus-inviolabilis.tumblr.com
MENAGERIE
By Max Blecher
Translated by Christina Tudor-Sideri
Here I am your fringed dog
with sword teeth to bite you, to bark at you
Here I am your snake to tempt you
With the apple of the sun to poison you
Here I am your rhinoceros in a clown tunic
Juggling to make you laugh
Here I am your giraffe. Capital letter
In the text of the day, read me A
Here I am the eagle of nightfall
With my heart alight in my beak like a lantern.
What's Going On / What's Happening Brother
Marvin Gaye
"Images" Original soundtrack to Robert Altman's film John Williams and Stomu Yamash'ta 1972
"The Stone Garden of Ryoanji" Mal Waldron Live at Dug in Shinjuku, Tokyo, 1972
Composer Eduard Artemyev, actress Natalya Bondarchuk and director Andrei Tarkovsky on the set of Solaris (1972) - Fragment of Solaris film score.
Vast teeny tracts of abandoned wishes - of even vaster wishes of not being there. (wherever that might be) A prayer: Let it smolder Let it glide Let it drift into another wish, Another dream. (from his collection of poetry, "Aurora Teardrops" 2016)
So we wanted to part? Thought it both good and wise? Why, then, why did the act shock us as murder would? Ah, ourselves we know little, For within us a god commands.
Wrong that god? And betray him who created for us Meaning, life, all we had, him who inspired and moved, Who protected our loving, This, this one thing I cannot do.
But a different wrong, different slavery Now the world’s mind invents, threatens with other laws, And, by cunning, convention Day by day steals away our souls. Oh, I knew it before. Ever since deep-rooted Fear, Ugly, crippled, estranged mortals from heaven’s gods To appease them with bloodshed Lovers’ hearts must be sacrificed. Silent now let me be! Never henceforth let me know This, my deadly disgrace, so that in peace I may Hide myself where it’s lonely And the parting at least be ours. Pass the cup, then, yourself, that of the rescuing, Holy poison enough, that of the lethal draught I may drink with you, all things, Hate and love be forgotten then. To be gone is my wish. Later perhaps one day, Diotima, we’ll meet - here, but desire by then Will have bled away, peaceful Like the blessed, and like strangers we’ll Walk about, as our talk leads us now here, now there, Musing, hesitant, but then the oblivious ones See the place where they parted, And a heart newly warms in us,
Wondering I look at you, voices and lovely song As from distant times, music of strings, I hear And the lily unfolds her Fragrance, golden above the brook.
Third Ear Band with Bridget St. John following. A perfect evening.
Boiling the shobuyu**
My little brother and I test our endurance
Beyond the window
We*** found the first star of the evening
The heartrending feelings of childhood days brought back to life in spite of myself
The vibrant colours of the carp streamers
Aah, Aah
Irises, early summer rain, Tango no Sekku
As the rain stops
Into the river with my little brother
Chasing the yamame****
The summer insects cry out — it’s already dusk
The heartrending experiences of childhood days brought back to life in spite of myself
The summer past is the colour of tears
Aah, Aah
Irises, early summer rain, Tango no Sekku
*Tango no Sekku is celebrated annually on May 5th in Japan. It is also known as the Iris Festival or more commonly Boy’s or Children’s Day.
**shobuyu is the bath water of iris leaves and roots that people bathe in during Tango no Sekku. It is believed iris can ward off sickness, evil spirits and prevent misfortune so it’s bathed in also with hopes to raise healthy, happy children. Shobu is the word for iris but is also a pun for the word challenge/match and the word for samurai spirit.
*** we or I. She doesn’t specify
****yamame are masu salmon/cherry trout from Japan
