| this week |
Jun 3, 2008 10:11 am
4037 Views | this week I want to
carve terrible meaning from living air
bathe in the dark longing of the hills
smash civilization to smithereens
comfort the wounded and the ill
scream until my throat bleeds
comprehend the heavens at a glance
split skulls
cure disease
and hold you forever in my arms
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98 Comments | |
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| epilogue |
May 28, 2008 6:26 am
3684 Views | he wrote
a silent epilogue
of hope
on the pages
of her body
but the story had already ended
she no longer wanted to be read
the book was closed
and he was left
bereft
in the unscripted dark
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83 Comments | |
| Muse's Poetic Challenge #15 |
May 27, 2008 12:48 am
3265 Views | mute outcast
I follow you
through
the unbroken mood
of a vaulted sky
to
a hushed perigee
where
in the arenas of the wise
riddled accusations
are levelled
at the innocent
___________________________________
For rules and regulations see Poetic Challenge # 15
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45 Comments | |
| As old as the hills. |
May 26, 2008 10:56 am
2741 Views |  | Before the Romans came, two thousand years ago, there was no Trento, just a gentle slope by the river Adige on the way from the Alps to Lake Garda, frequented by the occasional wandering tribe of Rhaetians or Celts. As the Romans pushed up from the south, so tribes from the east and north flowed through the mountain passes and on down towards the peninsula of Italia.
The Romans stopped at the gentle slope by the river Adige and built the city of the three hills, Tridentum. Two thousand years ago. To protect and defend the way south through the Alps. Jupiter was worshipped here, Athena hunted in the forests and the music of Apollo echoed in the valleys.
Merchants and travellers brought the cults of Isis from Egypt, Mithras from Persia and Cybele from Asia to these mountains. The sun god Sol Invictus shone down on the people, who worshipped him fervently in the darkest hours and especially on his feast day of December 25.
Five hundred years later, the Romans were shouldered aside by the Goths and Lombards who brought their dark northern gods with them. Odin glowered from the heavens and Thor struck the hillsides with thundrous lightning.
Then came Arian Christians, those who believed that God and Jesus and the Spirit were separate and subservient, one to the other. Such heresy could not be tolerated, and soon the Nicene Creed was chanted in the churches. But the Trinity did not help the Lombards, and they failed and passed into history and were succeeded by the Franks and the Prince-Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire.
Trento, or Trent in the local dialect, grew strong under its Prince-Bishops, who wielded full spiritual and temporal power. When the Roman Catholic Church found itself threatened by Protestantism, the Council of Trent inaugurated the sixteenth century Counter-Reformation, with its Transubstantiation and the Tridentine Mass.
By the time of the next Ecumenical Council, three hundred years later, Trento had passed to the Habsburgs, after bouncing between Bavaria and Napoleonic Italy. From Roman Empire, to Holy Roman Empire to Austro-Hungarian Empire. But empires, like religions, come to an end, replaced, in this case, by nationalism. The area was claimed by and awarded to Italy after the First World War, occupied by the Germans during the Second World War, and returned to Italy in peacetime.
The Italian state is 147 years old. Jupiter ruled Trento for three times as long. If you stand on the slopes of the forested hills and listen carefully, you can still hear Bacchus, calling for more wine.
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32 Comments | |
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| if you have something to say |
May 19, 2008 10:00 am
2844 Views | if you have something to say
write it down
now
for if you don't
it will be gone
and soon
the memory of it
will be gone
and it will be
as if
it never existed
at all
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52 Comments | |
| Recipe for disaster. |
May 16, 2008 9:15 am
2634 Views | As I'm just a boy who can't say no (to a challenge). I thought I'd have another stab at the golden balls (I've just crossed my legs for some reason). So here is my entry for the Recipe for Romance Contest! If it's not there when you hurry off to vote for me, it means it'll have gone the same way as dB's entry.
The ideal setting is on the balcony of a small villa deep in the Sierra Nevada, watching the sun go down.
Appetizer – Toast fingers delicately flavoured with marmita.
Beverage – Cava, preferably Catalan, they are fiercely jealous, you might have to steal it off one.
Main course – Chicken breasts marinated in white wine.
Beverage – Galician white wine, preferably Ribeira Sacra, force may be necessary here too.
Dessert – Honeydew melon
Beverage – Orujo de hierbas, no force required.
Recipe for chicken breasts:
Ingredients
1 chicken
3 glasses of white wine
salt
pepper
herbs
Directions
Drink one of the glasses of wine. Wring the chicken’s neck. Some prefer cutting the head off, but this can be messy. Dip the chicken in boiling water, then pluck. Cut off the head and feet (don’t throw these away, they can be barbecued later). Gut the chicken (again, save the entrails for stock). Drink the second glass of wine. Cut off the wings and legs, split the chicken along the breastbone and fillet. Skin the fillets. Rub the breasts gently with salt, pepper and herbs and put in oven dish. Add third glass of wine. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes depending on taste.
I cooked this once. The order of the dishes, and the timing, is very important – first fingers, then breasts, and only then to the honeydew. This always gives the best results.
ˇQue aproveche!
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73 Comments | |
| For an atheist he doesn't half go on about God a lot. |
May 15, 2008 11:16 am
1990 Views |  | God, if we are truly created in his image, must be a petty, irascible, melancholic individual, capable of great love and enormous negligence, with a twisted sense of humour and limitless compassion.
The state of the globe only serves to confirm this suspicion.
But is he worthy of worship?
That would be like a rat in a maze worshipping the scientist who put it there to observe its scurryings to and fro.
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39 Comments | |
| spoor |
May 14, 2008 2:16 am
2096 Views | in the last corner
intimate
like the soul
hidden
but not hiding
an animal desire
more terrible
than loss
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46 Comments | |
| To link to this blog (gowerboy) use [blog gowerboy] in your messages. |
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