Friday, 4 June 2010

Stories from the sea


Father And Child by William Butler Yeats

She hears me strike the board and say
That she is under ban
Of all good men and women,
Being mentioned with a man
That has the worst of all bad names;
And thereupon replies
That his hair is beautiful,
Cold as the March wind his eyes.


A Tale by Louise Bogan

This youth too long has heard the break
Of waters in a land of change.
He goes to see what suns can make
From soil more indurate and strange.

He cuts what holds his days together
And shuts him in, as lock on lock:
The arrowed vane announcing weather,
The tripping racket of a clock;

Seeking, I think, a light that waits
Still as a lamp upon a shelf, —
A land with hills like rocky gates
Where no sea leaps upon itself.

But he will find that nothing dares
To be enduring, save where, south
Of hidden deserts, torn fire glares
On beauty with a rusted mouth, —

Where something dreadful and another
Look quietly upon each other.


Behind, perhaps, let the sea blow… by Carlos Barbarito

Behind, perhaps, let the sea blow.
Let some word blow
outside every destination of slime, rust.
Perhaps ointments from Avicenna,
forests of embraces,
crops, swarms, humid implications.
Or, perhaps, the same.
It sits up. It gets dressed. It goes.
The grass stands up again.
At his step everything seems to find
inside itself a certain form of calm.
It can’t be a great distance
- he thought.

© translation: Brian Cole

9 comments:

Rohini said...

The last photo is that of Bandra Bandstand. I go there for long walks on a whim, especially during the monsoons. Thanks for the stories. I have some of my own stories and memories of time spent by the sea. :)

Anvita Lakhera said...

Glad you liked them. The last one is from Worli Sea face. The other two from Marine Drive. We used to live close to Bandstand...the sea, the rain, the walk...perfect :)

Asha said...

Beautiful. I am a great poetry fan, and am always searching for good poetry - and I love the way you use photographs and poetry together. Looking forward to more such combinations!

Anvita Lakhera said...

Thanks for the encouragement Asha. Much appreciated :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks!

Anvita Lakhera said...

Such an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Thank you for the beautiful words.

Anonymous said...

Dear friend in India: Books of poetry are not priority in bookstores in Buenos Aires. And I think, is a global constant. Sure, there are exceptions, not many, I know of places in the world where poetry gets a good reception. The poets are almost invisible. I myself long ago that I do not publish books in my country. It is very strange that I published in small and medium publishers in Spain, France, Costa Rica, Mexico. And soon, in France and, perhaps, in Syria! I think you do not speak Spanish. Anyway, I will send you a pdf copy of my latest book, Ashes of noon ", published in Mexico. Thank you for your message. Greetings from Argentina.

Anonymous said...

To what email address I can I send my last book of poems in pdf format?

Anvita Lakhera said...

Thank you for writing. It is so wonderful of you to send the pdf of your latest book. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish but I will find someone who does to read and translate it for us. And will share it with others who keep looking for poetry everywhere.

You can kindly send it to anvitalakhera(at)yahoo(dot)com

Once again thank you for the generous offer. Warm regards from Bombay.