Tag Archives: Poetry

1321: Kleptomania

Posted on October 8, 2017 by corvusfugit

In Some Observations Made in Travelling Through France, Italy, &c. in the Years 1720, 1721 and 1722, Edward Wright relates being told in Florence about one of Dante’s bad habits: This great man, we are told, had a most unhappy … Continue reading →

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2nd Century AD: I Was Trained to Run Boldly through Strange Forests

Posted on October 5, 2017 by corvusfugit

A 1st or 2nd century Roman epitaph for a pet dog named Margarita (“Pearl”), written from the point of view of the deceased: [G]ALLIA · ME · GENVIT · NOMEN · MIHI · DIVITIS · VNDAE CONCHA · DEDIT · … Continue reading →

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1822: Murmurs of the Air

Posted on October 1, 2017 by corvusfugit

Despite the fact that Percy Bysshe Shelley had been expelled from Oxford University in 1811 for publishing an anonymous pamphlet called The Necessity of Atheism, this elaborate memorial was erected to the poet there in 1893. Shelly had drowned off … Continue reading →

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1913: My Heart at Evening

Posted on September 16, 2017 by corvusfugit

     My Heart at Evening Toward evening you hear the cry of the bats. Two black horses bound in the pasture, The red maple rustles, The walker along the road sees ahead the small tavern. Nuts and young wine taste … Continue reading →

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1971: He Says It Takes Two Kinds

Posted on September 15, 2017 by corvusfugit

2 yellow south white wedding dress naked parachute a man comes in. he offers me cocaine. two pure white powders. somethings fishy. one is lumpy. he says it takes two kinds. one is outlaw cocaine. hardon. makes you pant like … Continue reading →

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1867: Ambo le Man per lo Dolor mi Morsi

Posted on September 10, 2017 by corvusfugit

In the lowest depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil come upon the souls of Count Ugolino della Gherardesca and his political enemy Archbishop Ruggieri. Both are frozen in ice up to their necks; Ugolino is behind Ruggieri, gnawing on the … Continue reading →

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1969: The Color of Pomegranates

Posted on September 2, 2017 by corvusfugit

Sergei Parajanov’s 1969 film The Color of Pomegranates is an impressionistic biography of the 18th century Armenian ashug (poet/bard/troubadour) Sayat-Nova. Georgian actress Sofiko Chiaureli plays multiple roles in the film, both male and female, and the film has been seen … Continue reading →

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1967: On

Posted on September 1, 2017 by corvusfugit

On On yardbird corners of embryonic hopes, drowned in a heroin tear. On yardbird corners of parkerflights to sound filled pockets in space. On neuro-corners of striped brains & desperate electro-surgeons. On alcohol corners of pointless discussion & historical hangovers. … Continue reading →

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1968: Blood of the Poets

Posted on August 31, 2017 by corvusfugit

For her piece Blood of a Poet Box (1965-8), Eleanor Antin collected blood specimens from 100 poets, which she preserved and labeled in glass slides. The work alludes to Jean Cocteau’s 1930 film Le Sang d’un Poète [Blood of a … Continue reading →

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1855: Your Very Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem

Posted on August 27, 2017 by corvusfugit

          This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor … Continue reading →

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