Fig. 1. Giovanni Bellini - Dead Christ Supported by Angels (Pietà), c. 1474
'The poetic work is sacred in that it is a ... "communication" experienced as nakedness. It is self-violation, baring, communication to others of a reason for living, and this reason for living "shifts".'
Colette Peignot (aka Laure)
Your Ears Will Orgasm #30: Not Simply Blood (MixPod Player)
Addendum: Katie's Gift and Our Good Fortune
The gifts that come to us from far away, and which arrive without our expecting them, touch us far more deeply, and inexplicably, than those bought locally and with our foreknowledge. This one has been sent to us by our esteemed friends Katie and E.S.V. Millay:
I'm not sure if the Miserere mei Deus is helping to keep your atrabiliousness at bay, but it sure is a pretty piece.
While I'm not a religious person, the Bellini painting is quite powerful. And it leads me, of course, to an ESVM poem:
Song of the Nations
Out of
Night and alarm,
Out of
Darkness and dread,
Out of old hate,
Grudge and distrust,
Sin and remorse,
Passion and blindness;
Shall come
Dawn and the birds,
Shall come
Slacking of greed,
Snapping of fear -
Love shall fold warm like a cloak
Round the shuddering earth
Till the sound of its woe cease.
After
Terrible dreams,
After
Crying in sleep,
Grief beyond thought,
Twisting of hands,
Tears from shut lids
Wetting the pillow;
Shall come
Sun on the wall,
Shall come
Sounds from the street
Children at play -
Bubbles too big blown, and dreams
Filled too heavy with horror
Will burst and in mist fall.
Sing then,
You who were dumb,
Shout then
Into the dark;
Are we not one?
Are not our hearts
Hot from one fire,
and in one mold cast?
Out of
Night and alarm,
Out of
Terrible dreams,
Reach me your hand,
This is the meaning of all that we
Suffered in sleep, - the white peace
Of the waking.
E.S.V. Millay