A journey up there, 

      

in the sky

 

I wonder if the moon

over Kyiv

is as beautiful

as the moon over Rome,

I wonder if it’s the same moon

or merely her sister…

“Of course I’m the same!”

-the moon exclaims-

“Not some nightcap

for your head only!

As I journey up here,

I make light for all,

from India to Peru,

from the Tiber to the Dead Sea,

and my beams travel

without a passport.”

(translated from the Italian by Virginia Jewiss)

First published in 1955, the Moon Over Kyiv, the tender poem above,  by the acclaimed italian children's author and journalist Gianni Rodari  is published again. This time  due to an initiative by publisher Einaudi Ragazzi and Beatrice Allemagna. "It was an awesome honor that they considered me" the italian illustrator and children's writer says. Maybe it was as a result of them having seen her very impressed by what is going on, in addition to knowing her love for Rodari, whose books she has already illustrated. "For me he is  a non secular father, there’s always a slightly little bit of him in my works" she says. 

In the form of an e-book, or a conventional paper one, it will be out almost simultaneously in many countries worldwide. "I discovered that kids’s books are a social and political act (...)  I do not suppose there is a rise in manufacturing (books coping with warfare). I simply suppose they’re extra noticeable as a result of being within the highlight right now", she adds.

In Greece, where I live, "Το Φεγγάρι του Κιέβου" (translated by Antonis Papatheodoulou) is just published by Papadopoulos Books and the proceedings from the sales will be donated to  Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors without Borders, thus supporting their work in Ukraine (take a look here). 

"It is the original idea...

 

that is unique, not the object itself. "

Victor Vasarely

Note: The "Umbrellas" is a signature artwork by George Zongolopoulos – a significant Greek sculptor, painter and architect. It is placed in Thessaloniki's new promenade, outside Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and this year, to show solidarity  and express sympathy to the Ukrainian people, the installation is  imbued with yellow and blue lights. It also turns out to be celebrating Ash Monday – the umbrellas resemble kites, in a still orbit though.

 

A Word On Statistics

 Out of every hundred people,

those who always know better:

fifty-two.

Unsure of every step:

almost all the rest.

Ready to help,

if it doesn't take long:

forty-nine.

Always good,

because they cannot be otherwise:

four, well maybe five.

Able to admire without envy:

eighteen.

Led to error

by youth (which passes):

sixty, plus or minus.

Those not to be messed with:

four-and-forty.

Living in constant fear

of someone or something:

seventy-seven.

Capable of happiness:

twenty-some-odd at most.

Harmless alone,

turning savage in crowds:

more than half, for sure.

Cruel

when forced by circumstances:

it's better not to know,

not even approximately.

Wise in hindsight:

not many more

than wise in foresight.

Getting nothing out of life except things:

thirty

(though I would like to be wrong).

Balled up in pain

and without a flashlight in the dark:

eighty-three, sooner or later.

Those who are just:

quite a few, thirty-five.

But if it takes effort to understand:

three.

Worthy of empathy:

ninety-nine.

Mortal:

one hundred out of one hundred

a figure that has never varied yet.”

Wisława Szymborska

Note: The "Luci di Nara"  or "The light of moon" is a sculpture, characteristic of Igor Mitoraj's work. In the photo above, it is installed outside The British Museum (1991). 

  

The Three Oddest Words

" When I pronounce the word Future,

the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,

I destroy it.

When I pronounce the word nothing,

I make something no nonbeing can hold. "

Wisława Szymborska

 

Nothing Special

nothing special

boards paint

nails paste

paper string

mr artist

builds a world

not from atoms

but from remnants

forest of arden

from umbrella

ionian sea

from parkers quink

just as long as

his look is wise

just as long as

his hand is sure -

and presto the world -

hooks of flowers

on needles of grass

clouds of wire

drawn out by the wind

·

Zbigniew Herbert

Note: The artwork is a Study for the Head of "Poetry" (1895 - 1899) for the composition "The Apotheosis of Bavaria" by Nikolaos Gyzis. 

 

 

 

Safe & Sound, 

 

Merry & Bright

 

 

 Christmas!

 

 

Ascending Figure

 

This year's Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to an american poetess and essayist for "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

Louise Elisabeth Glück – one of the purest and most talented contemporary litterateurs in her field. She is distinguished for the linguistic and technical accuracy of her poetry, her sensitivity and insight  into matters of loneliness, family relationships, divorce and death. She is also noted for her "classicizing of gestures" - i.e. the frequent reworking of Greek and Roman myths in order to speak of destructive inter/personal relationships, existential despair and the agony of self. 

A poetess with an extensive body of work and many highly prestigious awards for it, Louise Glück is currently an adjunct professor and Rosenkranz Writer in Residence at Yale University. Once, she said: "Writing is a kind of revenge against circumstances: bad luck, loss, pain." It applies to reading, too. After a series of unconventional and controversial choices that seemed somehow superficial, the Swedish Academy are back on track with this timely and insightful selection for the current circumstances. 

 

Notes: You can read a random compilation of Louise Glück's poems here. / You can watch the Nobel Prize announcement here. / The portrait of the poetess is illustrated by Niklas Elmehed, the Swedish artist responsible for the official portraits of the Nobel Prize Laureates