The Snake Charmer ~ Sarojini Naidu Translated from Pashto by Saduddin Shpoon Whither dost thou hide from the magic of my flute-call? In what moonlight-tangled meshes of perfume, Where the clustering keovas guard the squirrel’s slumber, Where the deep woods glimmer with the jasmine’s bloom? I’ll feed thee, O beloved, on milk and wild red […]
A Mirror ~ Jean Follain Translated from French by Czeslaw Milosz and Robert Hass Having gone upstairs on steps of dark oak she finds herself before a mirror with a worm-eaten frame she contemplates in it her virgin torso all the countryside is ablaze and gently arrives at her feet a domestic beast as if […]
the laughing heart ~ Charles Bukowski your life is your life don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. be on the watch. there are ways out. there is a light somewhere. it may not be much light but it beats the darkness. be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances. know them. take […]
Hope is the Thing with Feathers ~ Emily Dickinson ‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard— And sore must be the storm— That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm— I’ve heard […]
All day I have been closed up inside rooms, speaking of trivial matters. Now at last I have come out into the night, myself a center of darkness. Beneath the clouds the low sky glows with scattered lights. I can hardly think this is happening. Here in this bright absence of day, I feel myself […]
