( via / me )

10 Great Films of 1925. (via feuilleton)

"Journey to the West

Ship of speech, word-wave,
sails westward, and I, speaking,
hold hard to wind’s unfolding
across air’s parchment, writing.

Lords and lackeys murmur and mill
and I, outside, stoop and supplicate,
seek king’s councillors, crave
access and audience, a prince who pays
for tongue’s treasure, mind’s unfolding,
richly wrapped in iron rings.

Earls of earth’s serpent spend
safety, scorn stability, senses
stripped; proud proclaimers, power-drunk,
cast kings’ cares to the wind’s casket.
Let warriors wait hard on heath;
hope under heaven favours flight.

Broad battles rage bitter,
brave lords drain heart’s mead,
unstinting drink the wine of ravens,
speak soft words, plough hard rows.

Mine is the gift of gold, speaking
strong lines; yours is steel,
a sharp sword, a worthy weapon.
A wise warrior weighs God’s words.

Wind’s servant, across the shifting hills
I return, richer in words and welcomes,
giving gifts undiminishing, gaining
grace of place, proud amongst peers.

I have fared far, fought clinging coils
of earth’s duplicitous dragon, found
home, the giver of true gifts;
one word resolves all riddles."

--Oz Hardwick in Modern Poets on Viking Poetry

Haiku: pine gate.

“A leopard does not change its spots, or change his feeling that spots are rather a credit.” --@icomptonburnett.bsky.social

The Affairs of Anatol.