Category Archives: Poetry

Benedetti Haikus

At this rate, I must learn Spanish, or at least work on ferreting the words out myself from the poems of Benedetti; his writing is so compelling…until then, translations by Katya Rascovsky:

2
la muerte invade
de vez en cuando el sueño
y hace sus cálculos
 
death invades
sleep from time to time
and makes its calculations
 
66
en todo idilio
una boca hay que besa
y otra es besada
 
in every love affair
there is a mouth that kisses
and another that is kissed
 
143
el preso sueña
algo que siempre tiene
forma de llave
 
the prisoner dreams
something that always has
the form of a key
 
172
la poesía
dice honduras que a veces
la prosa calla
 
poetry
conveys depths that sometimes
prose silences
 
213
un pesimista
es sólo un optimista
bien informado
 
a pessimist
is just an optimist
who is well informed
 
130
me gustaría
ser noble y elegante
como un pingüino
 
i would like
to be noble and elegant
like a penguin

Edith Wharton

I just ran across a few quotes by Edith Wharton, all of which are quite good. This one seemed most appropriate to security:

Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one.

Oh, how we always used to talk about hardening boxes.

Dry Your Eyes

by The Streets

In one single moment your whole life can turn ’round
I stand there for a minute starin’ straight into the ground
Lookin’ to the left slightly, then lookin’ back down
World feels like it’s caved in – proper sorry frown

Please let me show you where we could only just be, for us
I can change and I can grow or we could adjust
The wicked thing about us is we always have trust
We can even have an open relationship, if you must

I look at her she stares almost straight back at me
But her eyes glaze over like she’s lookin’ straight through me
Then her eyes must have closed for what seems an eternity
When they open up she’s lookin’ down at her feet

Dry your eyes mate
I know it’s hard to take but her mind has been made up
There’s plenty more fish in the sea

Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you’ve got to walk away now
It’s over

So then I move my hand up from down by my side
It’s shakin’, my life is crashin’ before my eyes
Turn the palm of my hand up to face the skies
Touch the bottom of her chin and let out a sigh

‘Cause I can’t imagine my life without you and me
There’s things I can’t imagine doin’, things I can’t imagine seein’
It weren’t supposed to be easy, surely
Please, please, I beg you please

She brings her hands up towards where my hands rested
She wraps her fingers round mine with the softness she’s blessed with
She peels away my fingers, looks at me and then gestures
By pushin’ my hand away to my chest, from hers

Dry your eyes mate
I know it’s hard to take but her mind has been made up
There’s plenty more fish in the sea

Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you’ve got to walk away now
It’s over

And I’m just standin’ there, I can’t say a word
‘Cause everythin’s just gone
I’ve got nothin’
Absolutely nothin’

Tryin’ to pull her close out of bare desperation
Put my arms around her tryin’ to change what she’s sayin’
Pull my head level with hers so she might engage in
Look into her eyes to make her listen again

I’m not gonna fuckin’, just fuckin’ leave it all now
‘Cause you said it’d be forever and that was your vow
And you’re gonna let our things simply crash and fall down
You’re well out of order now, this is well out of town

She pulls away, my arms are tightly clamped round her waist
Gently pushes me back and she looks at me straight
Turns around so she’s now got her back to my face
Takes one step forward, looks back, and then walks away

Dry your eyes mate
I know it’s hard to take but her mind has been made up
There’s plenty more fish in the sea

Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you’ve got to walk away now
It’s over

I know in the past I’ve found it hard to say
Tellin’ you things, but not tellin’ straight
But the more I pull on your hand and say
The more you pull away

Dry your eyes mate
I know it’s hard to take but her mind has been made up
There’s plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you’ve got to walk away now.