Tag Archives: César Gemayel

Reading a Wife

poetry, the language, writing, , , ,

READING A WIFE

A wife is not composed of words, so
Unlike a novel that takes till dawn
To devour she cannot be read
through in a night

Repeating the uneasy lines of a poem
Over and over, rereading again and again
would be different, too (though it probably looks the same)

Yesterday, while driving the car
In a break in the din
I heard for a moment the beat of a bird’s wings
Ah, I thought

That ‘Ah’ was just for one moment, but
It would need an eternity to comprehend, never mind
My wife, who is before me sleeping or awake

Is it arrogant to even want to read a person?
Not her expressions or gestures
But to want to read that person, my wife
Unable to be satisfied with just living together?

My wife speaking to me from across the table
My wife wordlessly tossing and turning in bed
The one there that seems like
Loyal ladies-in-waiting serving a wife I can’t see

In the breath inscribed in each sentence
Punctuated by daily reality
Its draft turns the pages of my wife

I wish to grasp not the look but the way of the words
In a quiet place far from both my wife and myself
And like a twig that smells the approach of snow in the air
I want to read my wife

-Yotsumoto Yasuhiro

Bedouin Woman by César Gemayel

Sleeping must be won without pride.

poetry, , ,

How to Sleep

Child in the womb,
Or saint on a tomb –
Which way shall I lie
To fall asleep?
The keen moon stares
From the back of the sky,
The clouds are all home
Like driven sheep.

Bright drops of time,
One and two chime,
I turn and lie straight
With folded hands;
Convent-child, Pope,
They chose this state,
And their minds are wiped calm
As sea-levelled sands.

So my thoughts are:
But sleep stays as far,
Till I crouch on one side
Like a foetus again –
For sleeping, like death,
Must be won without pride,
With a nod from nature,
With a lack of strain,
And a loss of stature.

-Philip Larkin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting by César Gemayel

Surveying my pithy army.

philosophy, quotes, ,

I’ve been meaning for years to create a Quotes page on my blog, and I did it today, in the course of helping a friend with her own blog pages. Then it was easy to start randomly loading content from my vast treasure store of worthy lines.

I always think of good succinct quotes as miniature philosophy exercises that beg me to muse on the statement as to its possible meanings and truthfulness and ramifications. The following is a good example of a pithy thought, and it also illustrates why I appreciate the quotes I collect:

chamfort
Chamfort

A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, anymore than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers.  ~Sebastien Chamfort

I am not a good general in this sense, but I think I know a capable soldier when I see one. Eventually I hope to put some order into the ranks of my army of quotes, of which only a small company have been assembled so far. In the meantime, anytime you want to mill about and look them over, you can click on the Quotes tab above.

If it’s evening where you are, you might especially like this one I just rediscovered and will close with:

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.  ~Victor Hugo

Sleeping Beauty by César Gemayel

 

 

painting: Sleeping Beauty by César Gemayel