Gabh uaim amach in oíche na haimsire.
Amach sa bháisteach,
I séideán ama.
Gabh uaim amach
Ar na sráideanna bánaithe.
Feadaíl gaoithe i simnéithe cathrach
Suas giota gairid chun cairr
Ach amach óm shaol.
Saol beag árasáin
Solas is teas
Compordúil iad seal
Dúinn araon.
Níor dhearcas thar dhoras m'eispéarais amach
Is leanas tú,
Ach lean tú mé!
Beirt lán d'fhéineachas
Nár oir riamh
Dá chéile.
Cén chaoi ar fhanamar
Seal faoi thost
I lár gréithreán ár n-anama
I gcontráracht nádúire?
D'fhanamar seal beag
Ón mbaisteach;
Ón bhfuacht, bhí fothain
In árasán folamh ár mbeatha.
(Sin é an chaoi)
Is cé bhréagfadh an éifeacht
Ag dearcadh isteach ón oíche.
Gabh ort anois
Suas go barr sráide
Is cas ar chlé.
Ní fhillfidh tú orm níos mó,
Aonaráin
Ag gabaháil ó chéile,
Ach ní gean é an gátar
Sa bhfothain.
(Máire Áine Nic Ghearailt)
Parting
Go out into the stormy night
Out into the rain
Into the blasts of time
Go out
Into the deserted streets
Where the wind blows
In the chimneys of the town
On the short way up to the car
Just out of my life
Little apartment life
Warmth and light
Comfortable for us
For a while.
I did not look beyond
The threshold of my own experience
And followed you,
But you followed me!
Each an integral whole
We did not complement each other.
What held us together
Silent
In the glimmer of our souls
Against our own nature?
Searching for a while
Shelter from the rain;
Shelter from the cold, hiding
In the empty apartment of our life.
(That’s the way it is)
A delusive picture
For anybody looking in to us
From the night.
Come on now
Go up, to the high end of the street
Than turn left.
Do not return to me.
Two loners
Parting.
But love is more
Than accommodation.
Trennung
Geh hinaus in die stürmische Nacht
hinaus in den Regen
in die Böen der Zeit.
Geh hinaus
in die verlassenen Straßen.
Wo der Wind pfeift
in den Schornsteinen der Stadt
auf dem kurzen Stück hinauf zum Wagen.
Nur raus aus meinem Leben.
Kleines Wohnungsleben
Wärme und Licht
eine Zeitlang bequem
für uns beide.
Ich schaute nicht hinaus
über die Schwelle meiner Erfahrung
und folgte dir,
aber du folgtest mir!
Jeder ein Ganzes
ergänzten wir uns nicht.
Was hielt uns zusammen
schweigend
im Schein unserer Seelen
entgegen unserer Natur?
Suchten eine Weile
Schutz vor dem Regen;
Schutz vor der Kälte, Sicherheit
in der leeren Wohnung unseres Lebens.
(So ist es)
Ein trügerisches Bild
für jeden, der aus der Nacht
zu uns hereinschaute.
Nun mach schon
geh hinauf, ans Ende der Straße
und dann links.
Kehr' nicht zu mir zurück.
Einzelgänger
die auseinander gehen.
Doch Liebe ist mehr
als ein Dach über dem Kopf.
26 September 2006
17 September 2006
Austerity Weekend
Having run out of money early this month (well, mainly due to going to Austria, which was sure worth it) I had to take some instant austerity measures, staying at home for a couple of days, avoiding everything that might end in spending what I don't have.
More or less forced to fast, dining on what is left in my fridge and still edible, I've been spending a lazy weekend, not doing much to be honest. At least I managed to wait until now to turn on the computer ..! I have been occupying myself with boring household tasks over the last days, doing the washing, ironing, cleaning windows and the like, things that have been waiting to be done for ages. Somehow I never get down to do all these things, commuting between here and the Eifel on a weekly basis, taking care of my derelict little house there.
That whole roof thing is still bothering me quite a bit. It seems almost certain now that the bank will not grant the credit I need to get the roof repaired. Lack of security they say. The house just isn't worth anything from their point of view. And I know they are right, but sure that won't help me a bit.
So I'm back at the setout, still trying to find a solution. With all the buckets up in the attic remaining empty in this unusual hot and dry September the problem didn't seem too urgent since I am back from Austria but of course I know that time is running and only too soon will I be back to overflowing buckets that can only be kept under control when I go there every weekend. Just that I can't, financially speaking. Gas is becoming so expensive, it's unbelievable. They charge fuel per litre here in Germany but converting the recent price it's about $6 per gallon. Germany and the Netherlands are the most expensive countries in the world now when it comes to gas prices, closely followed only by Great Britain. It seemed absolutely unreal to me when I paid less than 20 Euros to completely fill the car on the island of La Palma this spring. Spain seems to be a much cheaper place to be. Anyway, if I decide to spend the weekend in my house it will cost me more than 50 Euros ($60) just to get there, which makes 200 Euros a month. But since 200 Euros are all the money I can spend over the month, I'm in for a problem. I mean, it certainly can't be that I spend that much money on emptying buckets just because I can't afford to have the roof repaired. It seems somewhat preposterous to me. There MUST be a way but I'm afraid I don't see it so far.
And again ... call me Scarlett, but ... I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow ...
More or less forced to fast, dining on what is left in my fridge and still edible, I've been spending a lazy weekend, not doing much to be honest. At least I managed to wait until now to turn on the computer ..! I have been occupying myself with boring household tasks over the last days, doing the washing, ironing, cleaning windows and the like, things that have been waiting to be done for ages. Somehow I never get down to do all these things, commuting between here and the Eifel on a weekly basis, taking care of my derelict little house there.
That whole roof thing is still bothering me quite a bit. It seems almost certain now that the bank will not grant the credit I need to get the roof repaired. Lack of security they say. The house just isn't worth anything from their point of view. And I know they are right, but sure that won't help me a bit.
So I'm back at the setout, still trying to find a solution. With all the buckets up in the attic remaining empty in this unusual hot and dry September the problem didn't seem too urgent since I am back from Austria but of course I know that time is running and only too soon will I be back to overflowing buckets that can only be kept under control when I go there every weekend. Just that I can't, financially speaking. Gas is becoming so expensive, it's unbelievable. They charge fuel per litre here in Germany but converting the recent price it's about $6 per gallon. Germany and the Netherlands are the most expensive countries in the world now when it comes to gas prices, closely followed only by Great Britain. It seemed absolutely unreal to me when I paid less than 20 Euros to completely fill the car on the island of La Palma this spring. Spain seems to be a much cheaper place to be. Anyway, if I decide to spend the weekend in my house it will cost me more than 50 Euros ($60) just to get there, which makes 200 Euros a month. But since 200 Euros are all the money I can spend over the month, I'm in for a problem. I mean, it certainly can't be that I spend that much money on emptying buckets just because I can't afford to have the roof repaired. It seems somewhat preposterous to me. There MUST be a way but I'm afraid I don't see it so far.
And again ... call me Scarlett, but ... I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow ...
07 September 2006
Silver
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
(Walter de la Mare)
It's such a huge and bright full moon tonight ... I love the idea of how we all look at the same moon, no matter where we are ... and though the time difference won't let us all look at the same time, it's so sweet to imagine that while I look at the moon, being soothed by it's silvery light, somebody else might be looking up there at the very moment, kept awake like me, our glances unknowingly meeting, 240000 miles away from here. Sharing the same emotion, despite culture, despite distance ...
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
(Walter de la Mare)
It's such a huge and bright full moon tonight ... I love the idea of how we all look at the same moon, no matter where we are ... and though the time difference won't let us all look at the same time, it's so sweet to imagine that while I look at the moon, being soothed by it's silvery light, somebody else might be looking up there at the very moment, kept awake like me, our glances unknowingly meeting, 240000 miles away from here. Sharing the same emotion, despite culture, despite distance ...
01 September 2006
The Manifesto Of The Cloud Appreciation Society
We believe that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.
We think that they are Nature’s poetry, and the most egalitarian of her displays, since everyone can have a fantastic view of them.
We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day.
We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of a person’s countenance.
Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked. They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save on psychoanalysis bills.
And so we say to all who'll listen: Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds!
-----------------------------------------------------
If you like watching clouds as much as I do, check out the Cloud Appreciation Society's website:http://www.cloudappreciationsociety.org
We think that they are Nature’s poetry, and the most egalitarian of her displays, since everyone can have a fantastic view of them.
We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day.
We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of a person’s countenance.
Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked. They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save on psychoanalysis bills.
And so we say to all who'll listen: Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds!
-----------------------------------------------------
If you like watching clouds as much as I do, check out the Cloud Appreciation Society's website:
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