"blue marble"

"So many constellations that

are held out to us. I was,

when I looked at you―when?―

outside by

the other worlds."

― Paul Celan

"withered"

"You wander hither and yon" . . .

1. Do you suppose that you alone have had this experience? Are you surprised, as if it were a novelty, that after such long travel and so many changes of scene you have not been able to shake off the gloom and heaviness of your mind? You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate. . . .

         Lands and cities are left astern,

your faults will follow you whithersoever you travel. 2. Socrates made the same remark to one who complained; he said: "Why do you wonder that globe-trotting does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you? The reason which set you wandering is ever at your heels." What pleasure is there in seeing new lands? Or in surveying cities and spots of interest? All your bustle is useless. Do you ask why such flight does not help you? It is because you flee along with yourself. You must lay aside the burdens of the mind; until you do this, no place will satisfy you.

3. . . . You wander hither and yon, to rid yourself of the burden that rests upon you, though it becomes more troublesome by reason of your very restlessness, just as in a ship the cargo when stationary makes no trouble, but when it shifts to this side or that, it causes the vessel to heel more quickly in the direction where it has settled. Anything you do tells against you, and you hurt yourself by your very unrest; for you are shaking up a sick man.

4. That trouble once removed, all change of scene will become pleasant; though you may be driven to the uttermost ends of the earth, in whatever corner of a savage land you may find yourself, that place, however forbidding, will be to you a hospitable abode. . . .

5. If you saw this fact clearly, you would not be surprised at getting no benefit from the fresh scenes to which you roam each time through weariness of the old scenes. For the first would have pleased you in each case, had you believed it wholly yours. As it is, however, you are not journeying; you are drifting and being driven, only exchanging one place for another, although that which you seek, – to live well, – is found everywhere. . . .

“The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.” This saying of Epicurus seems to me to be a noble one. For he who does not know that he has sinned does not desire correction; you must discover yourself in the wrong before you can reform yourself. Some boast of their faults. Do you think that the man has any thought of mending his ways who counts over his vices as if they were virtues?

― Seneca, from "Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter 28"

"august"

"Whatever is silenced will clamour to be heard,

though silently."

― Margaret Atwood

"ruffles"

"The white light of truth, in traversing the many sided 

transparent soul of the poet, is refracted into iris-hued poetry."

― Herbert Spencer

"peonies"

. . . 

"Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden, 

and softly, 

and exclaiming of their dearness, 

fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling, 

their eagerness

to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are

nothing, forever?"

― Mary Oliver, from "Peonies"

Winter poem

At the turn of the winter sea-

son(g)s rise to hail the Creator

The forest rumble and sway

and somber waves thunder and swell, roll over-

taken by the rugged wind

as bone-chilling squalls hurl giant

swaths of snow upon a distant harrowed field

where a seed has dropped ― to die

and bear

the fruit (of Man) ―

a prayer's unravelling to silence

_ _ _

"You fool! What you saw does not come to life unless it dies."

― 1 Corinthians 15:36

ЗИМНА ПОЕМА

(на Майка)

Край вълнолома на зимния сезон

песни се реят във възхвала на Създателя

Разлюляната гора бучи

повдигат се с грохот мрачни вълни, и падат

сломени от грубия вятър

и мразовити вихрушки запращат (вели)-

кански снопове от сняг надaлеч в разораното поле,

където едно зърно е паднало ― да си отиде

и прероди се

в нов (човешки) плод ―

една молитва се разплита в тишината

_ _ _

“Безумецо, що ти сееш, няма да оживее, ако не умре.” 

― 1 Коринтяни 15:36

"begonia"

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way ― 

things I had no words for."

― Georgia O'Keeffe

"the myth"

"Everybody acts out a myth, but very few know what their myth is."

"More it's like there is a story, that you should be acting out, that works across games, 
and you have an incline of it, you have a notion of it, you have a vague apprehension of it, 
it is sort of built into you - that's archetype, that's an archetype." 

"duality"

"There are trivial truths and the great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth 
is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true."

— Niels Bohr

"dictum"

"The greatest wisdom is to make the enjoyment of the present the supreme object of life 

because that is the only reality; all else being the play of thought. But it might as well be 

our greatest folly because that which exists only a moment and vanishes as a dream 

can never be worth a serious effort."

― Irvin D. Yalom

"love [s]pace"

"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long 

for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, 

time is eternity."

― Henry Van Dyke

band of seagulls

"The deeper sorrow carves into your being,

the more joy you can contain."

— Khalil Gibran

"water's edge"

"Aware" by Denise Levertov

When I found the door

I found the vine leaves

speaking among themselves in abundant

whispers.

My presence made them

hush their green breath,

embarrassed, the way

humans stand up, buttoning their jackets,

acting as if they were leaving anyway, as if

the conversation had ended

just before you arrived.

I liked

the glimpse I had, though,

of their obscure

gestures. I liked the sound

of such private voices. Next time

I'll move like cautious sunlight, open

the door by fractions, eavesdrop

peacefully.

― Denise Levertov

_ _ _

sun-[melt]-down

А Вам я Небо напишу, 

И званый бал цветов и листьев, 

И свечи звезд не погашу – 

Ведь в сказке нужен свет их истин. 

Нужны надежды и мечты, 

Скользящие по глади пруда, 

И дар любви и красоты – 

Хотя бы маленькое – чудо. 

Еще – часы переведу 

На много дней назад и в вечность! 

― Уджал Ахвердиев

"same different blue"

"different, like you."

.

"soon or later, different scares people."

"woolgathering"

"God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it."

― Georgia O'Keeffe

The old barn

"I don’t believe a person has a style. What people have is a way of photographing 

what is inside them. What is there comes out."

― Sebastião Salgado

divergent diversion

"The mind gets distracted in all sorts of ways.

The heart is its own exclusive concern and diversion."

― Malcolm de Chazal