Thursday, June 23, 2005

SWIMMING IN AMAZEMENT

lessondetail-1
"The Lesson" by Natalie d'Arbeloff (see sidebar for link) Her description of this work:

It is not a dream
A giant blue bird appears
And follows Augustine everywhere.

The giant bird sits in the bathtub with Augustine.She says:
What is the meaning of this?
The bird answers:
You are forgetting to be amazed.
The figures are reflected in the mirror.

A tiny crystal ball sits on a ledge behind a gold frame. Looking through the frame you can read the message:
Don't forget.

CATEGORY: Religious and Poetic Ecstasy

Because it's summer, and the sky is particularly brilliant today, we need to talk about swimming. And we need to talk about amazement. To that end, I bring you Polish poet, Adam Zagajewski, one of the voices I turn to when I need to soar.

ON SWIMMING


The rivers of this country are sweet
as a troubadour's song,
the heavy sun wander westward
on yellow circus wagons.
Little village churches
hold a fabric of silence so fine
and old that even a breath
could tear it.
I love to swim in the sea, which keeps
talking to itself
in the monotone of a vagabond
who no longer recalls
exactly how long he's been on the road.
Swimming is like prayer:
palms join and part,
join and part,
almost without end.

Adam Zagajewski

7 comments:

. said...

thanks for your comment on my blog.
i have just read a bit of your blog and loved it. as soon as i found the time, i will come back for more great reading.
i have linked you. hope you don't mind.
take care.

shakespeare's not dead
jose luis

. said...

meant "find" not "found". sorry about that.

jl

Patry Francis said...

thanks so much, jose luis--and I'm so glad to hear that Shakespeare's not dead.

rdl said...

i love "The lesson" the picture and story are so cute, wish there was more, would be a nice kids/fantasy book. like the little prince or the unicorn; better than Harry Potter. I like the poem too.

Patry Francis said...

rdl, you should go to Natalie d'Arbeloff's blog (see sidebar). Great
art, great stories...

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Generic Viagra Online said...

thanks for this short tale, my son really like the way in the history end, inclusive he asked me "dad, someday we can read the second part of this tale, right?" and said his "yes my love, maybe someday" please write a second part!!!