Posts Tagged ‘churches’
1月 6, 2020
RAVENNA
All sorts of bands
and flowers and strands
and lines and motifs
lie intertwined
beneath the old church
of Santa Eufemia.
Take a close look,
they are dancing,
the lines and so on.
A big Roman house
with courtyards and tiles
all over the floors.
A dance of the seasons.
They say Summer is missing,
or maybe it’s Spring,
holding Winter’s hand,
like Autumn does
on the other side.
Winter is wrapped in blue,
around the head too.
Crooked lines come out
above the head.
Is it a fool?
They say it’s grass,
maybe reeds.
And there is a shepherd,
the second big mosaic,
also with a pan-flute.
Two storeys above
is the old city.
This city below was the western capital
of the Byzantine empire
among other things.
Then there is Dante,
buried in a mound
overgrown with green leaves
all-year round
in 1944 and 1945,
German hell-hounds were loose.
Maybe one year
his bones were in there,
the shape of the mound
reminded me of an old poetess
in China in Xi’an, formerly Chang’an,
the old capital.
Cai Wenji was her name.
Her mound is much bigger,
and very well kept,
much in contrast to all the graves
of famous male poets.
She was politically very important.
Back in Ravenna
in winter
wrapped against the cold
we move on
to our next monument.
MW December 30, 2019
NEON
Neon reigned in 452.
No, this was the year
they built the mosaics
the wonderful dome
under bishop Neon.
It’s the Orthodox baptistery.
Much more elaborate
than the Arian one
across the old city.
Each apostle is named.
Most have a beard.
Simon looks like a woman.
The Arian dome
has only one throne
and here there are four,
they are all empty too
but there are also four books
in between, the four gospels.
Blessed are those whose iniquities
and sins are remitted,
says one inscription.
MW December 30, 2019
IVORY THRONE
The ivory throne
was for Bishop Maximian,
550 or something.
Joseph and his brothers.
Jesus feeds 5000 people.
The annunciation,
the water test
for Mary’s virginity.
What was that exactly?
Carved panels in different sizes
all around the back and on the sides.
Blank parts in between,
maybe panels are missing.
Ebony covered with ivory.
Somewhere in the museum
with Saint Andrew’s chapel,
wonderful mosaics.
Then in the afternoon
Saint Apollinaire in Classe.
Classe was the harbour
of the Roman fleet
and the main port
until the ninth century.
The church is huge,
and there were more,
there is a museum
in the sugar factory,
closed in 1982.
The sea isn’t far.
MW December 30, 2019
SAN VITALE IN RAVENNA
You know right away
you are in a place of worship.
In this way it’s like the Alhambra.
At least I hope the Alhambra retains it,
haven’t been there for 38 years.
A sense of awe
and exultation,
no matter how many people,
how many tourists.
Very big, very grand, spacious.
Filigree columns, needlework stone.
Very very high, many arches.
Mosaics.
Some of the best ones
in this splendid city.
A sacred place.
Stay.
The whole city is sacred.
Drink,
try to retain
some of this beauty.
MW December 31st, 2019
标签：antiquity, beauty, bible, books, ceiling, china, churches, colors, culture, East Roman Empire, Europe, floor, food, history, life, memory, mosaics, people, poetry, poets, Ravenna, religion, Stones, streets, tradition, travel, walls
发表在 2000s, 2010s, 2019, 2020, 21st century, 5th century, 6th century, 7th century, 8th century, 9th century, Antique times, Byzantinian times, December 2019, Han dynasty, January 2020, Middle Ages, poetry, Roman times, Tang Dynasty, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
11月 11, 2019
Xi Wa
RICHTIGER GLAUBE
Er hat eine Münze geworfen
um zu entscheiden
ob er an Gott glaubt
oder an Sakyamuni.
Als in Zhejiang
viele Kirchen zerstreut werden
sagt er: Amithaba!
Mein Glaube war richtig.
Und als Notre-Dame in Paris
zerstört wird in Flammen
denkt er fast im Gebet: Lieber Gott,
mein Glaube war wirklich richtig.
Und als das Wort „Gott“ aus den Grundschulbüchern
auf dem ganzen Festland gestrichen wird
sagt sein ernstes Gesicht: Oh Gott!
Mein Glaube war ganz sicher richtig.
Letzte Fassung August 2019
Übersetzt von MW im November 2019
标签：books, buddhism, china, christianity, churches, correct, decision, education, 西娃, face, faith, freedom, history, life, mainland, memory, NPC, poetry, prayer, religion, right, school, thought, thoughts, Xi Wa, 新世纪詩典
发表在 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2019, 20th century, 21st century, August 2019, Middle Ages, November 2019, NPC, poetry, Translations, Uncategorized, 新世纪诗典 | Leave a Comment »
1月 6, 2019
Photo by Cornelia Ippers
ROOM SERVICE
Are you from room service?
Translate into Spanish:
all-inclusive service,
gagged,
biting,
reading stories,
contemporary historical service,
service in the times of the cholera.
Voluntary,
involuntary man-service
in the name of the lord
of the manor
and the overlord
of the hotel chain
in the interests of
the all-Europe hotel
short story competition
and so on.
Make a story
out of who stayed
in Regensburg
before sunrise,
before sunset,
after Ethan Hawke,
what was the name of the bar,
something with Max.
Different city?
No, we’re not mad,
we’re very glad
we found this hotel
at the end of December.
The local paper says
these are six precious days
not including Christmas
to recuperate.
No tourists,
Merry-Turks- street,
what a wonderful place.
Pustet is a very good bookstore.
Better than some biggest book shops in bigger cities.
Churches are free,
just like the thousand year old bridge
with its museum. This used to be
one of two biggest cities in Germany.
They are building a synagogue.
A place of hope. End of a year.
Not a good one.
Re-education camps. War on terror, they say.
War on the people. Not a good story.
Are you from room service?
Please translate into Spanish
and Catalan:
Who translates into English?
Anyway, I write poems.
Some are good stories,
like Mosque And Casino.
I wrote it years ago in Chinese.
MW December 2018 – January 2019
Photo by Cornelia Ippers
标签：bar, Bavaria, books, bridge, Catalan, Chinese, Christmas, christmas time, churches, competition, crime, education, Germany, history, hotel, languages, memory, new year, people, poetry, politics, re-education, Regensburg, religion, service, sex, society, Spanish, state, stories, terror, translation, travel, war, words, year
发表在 2016, 2018, 2019, 20th century, 21st century, December 2018, January 2019, Middle Ages, poetry, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
4月 7, 2015
Yi Sha
VIETNAM LANDSCAPE
the ones who brought rice and cannons
didn’t leave anything
the ones who brought bombs
didn’t change anything either
only
the ones who brought writing, coffee and churches
left behind writing, coffee and churches
2015
Tr. MW, 2015
标签：bombs, cannons, change, china, churches, coffee, history, memory, poetry, results, rice, travel, Vietnam, writing, yi sha, 新世纪诗典, 伊沙
发表在 April 2015, January 2015, poetry, Translations, Uncategorized, Welcome! | Leave a Comment »
中国大好き 